Spin It Round Again
by JPC
Summary: Just when it's decided that they must kill a vampire to escape this trap, along comes Spike to pay Angel a visit.
1. One vampire too many

This is a rewrite of "Spin the Bottle" where Spike shows up at just the wrong moment. If you recall, "Spin the Bottle" aired the Sunday after "Conversations With Dead People," when it became apparent that Spike was under the control of the First Evil. My conceit is that Spike — who is not yet aware of his killing — heads to LA to see Angel and talk about the soul thing. Oh, and if the opportunity presents itself, mention how he slept with Buffy and see the look on Angel's face. Of course all of that goes out the window once he sets foot in the Hyperion. I wrote this back in November of 2002 and posted it on CoA, where it received several positive reviews. I've finally decided to post it here, after editing the story, fleshing out the fight scenes and adding a few vignettes about Spike's trigger that weren't revealed at the time I first wrote it.

Wesley has just announced that they are trapped in this building until they kill a vampire. Spike walks through the front door and looks down at Angel.

"Love the new digs. You've done quite well for yourself, old boy."

"Why are you talking to me, you vile English swine?"

"Not so happy to see Spike, now are you?," he replies, stepping down into the atrium.

Wesley's eyes open wide. "Spike . . . William the Bloody. He must be the vampire we are supposed to kill." The five of them grab their weapons and slowly form a semi-circle around Spike. He is mildly alarmed by their seeming paranoia.

"Wasn't expecting you to roll out the welcome mat, but don't you think the lynch mob's a tad harsh?" Gunn steps towards Spike and prepares to engage him.

"Be careful," Wesley warns. "I've read about him. He's very dangerous."

Angel laughs. "He doesn't look so dangerous to me. Just another English dandy. I've been waiting for a while to pound on one of your kind."

Spike smiles. "I wus planning on a little more foreplay before we got physical, but I see your point. Why waste any more time?" Angel charges in. Spike jumps back and up the steps. Angel keeps charging. Spike lands a right hook and a right kick, knocking Angel down the steps and onto his back. "Looks like all this bloody luxury's made you soft." Angel stands up, goes bumpy and leaps ten feet forward, surprising himself. He blocks Spike's left cross and lands a left jab and a right uppercut, putting Spike on his back. "Now you're gettin' it!," Spike says as he stands up and gets his fang on. They charge forward and trade right hooks hooks before their arms become entangled. As they grapple, the four humans notice that the faces of both fighters look decidedly un-human. Cordelia screams. The two vampires momentarily break it off.

"They're both vampires! Even the hot one," she declares, putting her right hand to her heart and hyperventilating. "This is so unfair!"

Wesley strokes his chin. "They must be in cahoots."

"You think I'd actually work with this swine?"

"Okay Angel, enough with the bloody pig talk.

"What did you call me?"

"It's back to Angelus, then?"

"My name is Liam. And I am not a vampire!" He puts his left hand to his mouth and feels his fangs.

"Back, you slaves of Satan!," Wesley calls out as he rushes forward with a crucifix in his right hand. Spike laughs and takes a step to his right so he's out of Wesley's path. Angel reaches out his right hand to grab the cross, only to get badly burnt. He leaps back in pain, looking at the wound and feeling his forehead. He can't believe the injustice of it all.

"When did I become a vampire?"

Spike chuckles. "About two-and-half centuries ago, mate."

"You did this to me!," Angel yells, pointing at Wesley. "You, and your evil English ways, and your mini music men in a box, and your speeding four-wheeled demons!"

"You didn't say there would be two of them," Cordy tells Wes. "How do kill a vampire anyway?"

"Cordelia!," Spike calls out with a grin. "You've done something to your hair"

"Oh no. oh no! They really did take my hair."

Not at all fearful of the humans, Spike walks up to her. "Shorter, blonder. Trying to catch Angel's eye, now aren't we?"

"How do you know my name? And who's Angel? I don't know any Mexicans."

Spike sighs in frustration as he paces back and forth in front of Cordy and the three strangers. "What is wrong with you bloody people? It's like you're suffering from some sort of collective amnesia. That's it!" At this point, Lorne wakes up. He's behind the humans, and taped to the circular chair. "Lemme guess," Spike continues. "Someone tried a spell and it backfired, and now none of you know who you are. This could be fun. Like a parlor game." Up the stairs above Spike, Angel tries to feel a pulse and continues demonstrably agonizing about his most unjust predicament. As Spike tries to figure out how to handle this delicious situation, he stops in his tracks, and his eyes momentarily look vacant. He returns to his human face and begins to sing:

"Early one morning,

Just as the sun was rising,

I heard a young maid singing,

In the valley down below.

"O, don't deceive me.

O, never leave me.

How could you use,

a poor maiden so?"

"Spike's right!," Lorne yells. "We have to reverse the spell and WHOA!!! I thought Connor had a raging Oedipal Complex when it came to Angel. Yeoh! You, Spikey, are one messed up buckaroo." Spike gets mad at the mind-reading demon and punches him until he returns to unconsciousness.

"Bloody demons."

"Do all vampires say everything's bloody all the time?," Fred wonders. "Doesn't that get tiresome?"

"I'm not a vampire," Angel maintains. "I can't be a vampire. How did this happen? Did father do this to me? Is this my punishment?"

"Oh, bloody hell." Spike punches Angel with a left hook, then kicks him to the ground with a right roundhouse. "Even when you're a blank slate, you still feel all sorry for yourself. Will you stop being so pathetic?"

Angel stands up. "You're the pathetic one, limey!" He grabs Spike by the lapels and throws him into the wall.

"I'm taking blondie," Gunn whispers to Wes. "You think you can handle mopey?"

"First we need to make sure to protect the women."

"Oh please," Cordy scoffs. "You couldn't protect a goldfish."

"I'll take Fred," Gunn calls out.

"No, I'm with Fred."

"You go with Cordelia."

"Why? So that if the vampires don't kill me, she can nag me to death?"

"I don't believe this," Cordy whines. "I'm trapped with these bickering idiots, and the one big, strong, gorgeous guy in the room is a vampire who probably wants to kill me. My life is so unfair!"

"So can I have both Wesley and Gunn with me?," Fred asks with a smile.

"I see what's going on," Spike declares. "Redneck girl - "

"Hey! I ain't no redneck, you rude, undead Billy Idol wannabe!"

"Sorry. Hillbilly girl can't decide if she belongs with the black guy or the English guy. My hunch is that she belongs with neither, cause before the amnesia spell the black guy and the English guy were a couple."

"Why, that's complete and utter poppycock."

"It would explain an awful lot," Cordy quips.

"Look, I don't know about little miss Head Boy over here, but I'm all man."

"So am I," Wesley adds.

"You're half a man at best!," Gunn counters.

"Don't you see what's happening?," Wes asks, trying to bring about a truce. "The vampire is practicing psychological warfare. He is trying to turn us against each other."

"I think it's time we took care of business." Wesley gets his sword to pop out. Gunn grabs his ax.

"Nice collapsible sword," Spike notes. "I thought only the bag guys knew where to get those." Both vampires go bumpy. Wes goes after Angel. He decks Wesley with a quick right hook. Spike ducks under Gunn's ax and kicks him in the chest. Cordy and Fred scream and flee. Wes and Gunn get up and flee as well.

"Just like old times," Spike says, patting Angel on the shoulder. "I think you're getting the hang of it, Liam. Do you feel the blood lust bubbling up?"

"I think I do." Angel smiles. "I like it."

"Smashing. Now go kill those people. I'll stay here and make sure nobody comes in to ambush you."

"That's nice of you, watching my back and all. Thanks, stranger." Angel runs off.

NEXT: Connor meets Spike.


	2. Battle of the Oedipoi

With Angel off trying to kill his friends, Spike lights up a cigarette and looks around the empty lobby, singing to pass the time:

"It doesn't pay to try.

All the smart boys know why.

It doesn't mean I didn't try.

I just never know why.

It isn't cause I'm all alone.

You can't put your arms around a memory.

You can't put your arms around a memory.

So don't try . . . Don't try."

"You did what to your mother!," Lorne exclaims.

"Don't you dare talk about my mum!" Spike runs over and starts choking Lorne with his left hand.

"I can help you. I can help you," Lorne wheezes. Spike lets go when he hears someone enter. He turns his back on Lorne and stares up at Connor, who glares down at him. Spike still has on his vampire face.

"Oh look, a snack," Spike says with a smile.

Connor brandishes his stake. "You don't know what you're up against, do you?

Spike laughs and leaps up the stairs to face-off with the lad. "What are you trying to be? A Slayer in drag?"

"The Oedipal thing's also about your mother," Lorne calls out. "That's the trigger! You have to come to terms with what you - "

"Will you shut up!!," Spike growls.

"Suit yourself." Connor tries to stake Spike while his back is turned. Spike steps out of the way and pushes Connor down the steps. "A few tips. First, you really need to work on the pre-fight banter. Second, your wardrobe's a tad ratty. It's grunge, ten years too late, and without the flannel. And third, stick with the kiddie vamps, the ones you can handle. Because you have no bloody idea who you're dealing with."

"Neither do you." Connor leaps fifteen feet forward and lands a flying right kick to Spike's chest, knocking his back into the wall. Spike's shocked by the boy's abilities, and Connor exploits this, landing right and left hooks. When Spike attempts a left hook, Connor grabs his left arm and tosses Spike over his shoulder. He moves in to kick Spike while he's down, but Spike sweeps his legs out. When they both get up, Connor rashly charges in and tries a right hook kick, left roundhouse kick and right jab. Spike backs away from the first two, and ducks the third. Connor's fist leaves a dent in the concrete wall behind Spike. He takes note, then knocks superboy back with a left hook. He blocks Connor's right hook, lands a right cross and a left jab, ducks Connor's left cross and puts him on the floor with a powerful right jab to the sternum.

Lorne rolls his eyes. "Paging Doctor Freud! Do you two realize how much you have in common? Spike, why don't you give Angel's son here a few lessons in smoldering daddy envy."

Spike turns to face Lorne. "What the bloody hell are you yammering on about?" Connor tries a right kick while Spike's not looking. Spike grabs Connor's leg and throws him through the air. He slides along the atrium floor before coming to a stop near Lorne.

"Like I said, bleach boy, that's Angel's son you're fighting." Spike thinks about this. He looks at Connor as he rises to his feet, furious and out for Spike's blood. The kid's human, but he seems abnormally strong.

"His son! Is he telling the truth, squirt?"

"My name's Connor, and it's not like I had a choice in the matter."

Spike chuckles at the notion. "You expect me to believe this teenager comes out of bloody nowhere, says he's part of the family, and no one finds that the least bit ludicrous? Wait, this sounds vaguely familiar. First the mass amnesia. Now the mystery kid. It's almost like I'm going back in time." Spike looks worried. "At this rate, they'll be putting a chip in my head a half hour from now."

"Excuse me," Lorne interjects, "But I didn't mean to cause you two to stop fighting to the death. Please, continue. Then one of you will die, and the world will be a better place." Cordy screams. Connor hears this and runs to help her. Spike shrugs. He puts his cigarette out on the floor.

"Hey green guy, aren't you a Pylean?"

"Guess you're not as stupid as you look. Course, that's not much of an achievement."

"Mouthy little fella. I thought Pyleans were a race of warriors? You don't look like much of a fighter."

"I'm a lover, not a fighter."

"From the looks of it, I'd say you're neither. By the way, is Angel's son' really just a big ball of universe-destroying energy?"

"I've always thought so. Say, can you be a dear an untie me so I can put an end to this madness?"

"Right when it's starting to get interesting? Then again, that Texan's probably a lot nicer with her memories intact," Spike says with a smile. He grabs a knife from the weapons chest and cuts through the duct tape.

"Hallelujah. You are a life saver."

"Whose life?"

"That's up to Angel-slash-Liam." This reminds Spike to go check out how things have developed. He follows the noises downstairs. "Wait!!," Lorne pleads. "Please stick around. I have to help undo that mind control."

"No one's controlling my mind, you stupid ponce." Spike rushes off. Lorne shrugs.

"Ensouled vampires. They always gotta do things the hard way."

By now Connor's saved Cordy, and he's fighting Angel. Spike arrives just in time to see Angel gain the upper hand. Connor's on the floor. Angel stands over him. Spike can't resist. He sneaks up on Angel from behind and hits him in the head with a frying pan, putting Angel on his knees. Then he smashes Angel's face into the metal table. Finally, he picks up Angel and throws him across the room and into the wall. Connor's impressed. Spike pulls him up to his feet.

"Did you come here to kill my father?"

"Nope. I prefer keeping Angel alive. That way, he can suffer." Connor smiles.

"Can everyone come upstairs?," Lorne asks. "I think I know how to bring everything back to normal. And Angel – I mean, Liam – make sure that Spike character doesn't get away." Angel, woozy from the blows to his head, slowly rises from his feet.

"You want me to kill him?," Angel asks.

"No killing!" Lorne puts his right hand to his forehead and gives up. "Forget about Spike. It's not like he's our problem, anyway."

While Lorne was talking to Angel, Connor, having realized why Angel attacked Cordy, and having figured out he isn't going to get any from her tonight, runs out of the building. Spike catches up with him on the street. "By the way, what were you and daddy' bashing each other's heads in over?

"Cordy."

Spike is intrigued. "Fighting over the same girl. Let me guess: she's in love with Angel, and you can't figure out why."

"Do you know my father?" Spike chuckles.

"We go way back. The whole love triangle thing, it reminds me of when Angelus and I fought over a woman. I kept trying to find a way to impress her. Then I killed a Slayer." Spike's eyes light up with inspiration. "That's it! That's how you impress Cordelia. You kill the Slayer! You kill Buffy. It's bloody perfect." Connor tries, Connor fails, but Buffy learns about Angel's feelings for Cordelia. Advantage Spike.

"Is this Buffy a vampire?"

"Not quite. But she has risen from the grave, and she's strong like a vampire. Your father tried to kill her, but he failed miserably. So this would be the perfect way to prove you're tougher than your old man. Cordelia will be monumentally impressed. Buffy hates her.

"Then she must be evil."

"Your sense of logic is astoundingly original."

This is where the original sketch ended. If you want, I can go on.


	3. Who was that fanged man?

Due to popular demand, the fic shall go on. Connor's visit to Sunnydale will coincide with Spike's killing spree, making Buffy's job that much more complicated. Mind you, Connor will not forget about Los Angeles, or about Cordy.

Lorne puts the poultice on Angel's tongue. A look of dread comes over his face. He quickly stands up and walks towards the wall, away from his friends who sit in a circle, still waiting for the reversal. "Spike . . . Connor . . . Spike and Connor." Cordy is next. She immediately leaps to her feet and runs past Angel out of the building. He stops her in the courtyard.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Angel. I can't stay."

"How can you even think of going out there?"

"I . . . I remembered some stuff, and right now it's best for me to be alone."

"Not if you value your life. Spike could be out there."

"Yeah, that was confusing. Why was he here? And why didn't you kill him?"

"I was too busy trying to keep from getting killed - "

"And trying to kill me, let's not forget."

"No. How could I? I'm sorry. That came out wrong."

"It wasn't you. Well, it was you, but not the current you. Good thing Connor showed up. And what the hell was Spike doing here?"

"I don't know. Connor!"

"He came here for Connor?," she says with a grimace. "I know he likes people who wish death upon you, but I think your boy has too much class to hang with blondie."

"Connor and I fought. Then we talked. Then someone whacked me in the head, and I blacked out. When I came to, Connor was gone."

"Spike kidnapped your son?" She starts giggling. "I'm sorry. I know this is a serious matter, but - " she bursts out laughing again. Angel joins in. Lorne walks out.

"I see you two are taking it well. How bout you come in. It's time for your debriefing, Cordy." She looks aghast. "Okay, we'll begin with my debriefing."

"Ohhhh. You mean discuss my restored memories and the looming bloody apocalypse. For a minute there - "

"And Angelpie, there's something you need to know about Spike."

"I should check on Connor," Cordy suggests.

"This'll only take a minute," Lorne promises. "You'll have plenty of time to debrief the boy after." Cordy looks nervous. Angel looks alarmed. "Oh, for pete's sakes, get you minds out of the gutters!"

"Red skin, black horns, scary-looking," Fred sums up.

"That's all I remember," Cordy maintains. "Or, it's all I remember remembering. What if some stuff got lost? I can't remember anything before my third birthday."

"Neither can I," Angel assures her, before realizing that's not quite so reassuring, given those events happened more than two centuries ago.

"Maybe that's a good thing," Fred suggests. "Everyone who remembered the whole kit-and-caboodle ended up with their brains all over the walls."

"What about the English guy?," Gunn asks.

"Spike," Wesley replies.

"Yeah. The one who turned Liam here into his sidekick."

"I was NOT Spike's sidekick!!!," an irate Angel exclaims.

"He doth protest too much," Lorne quips.

"Spike, also known as William the Bloody, was once Angelus's chief crony," Wesley explains. "He's killed two Slayers, but hasn't made much of an impact for the past three years."

"So he's evil," Gunn concludes.

"Always was," Angel concurs.

"Not anymore," Lorne counters. Everyone gasps. Angel practically faints. "He did some singing."

"Pretty lousy, if you ask me," Angel defensively interjects. "Spike never could carry a tune."

"Actually, I found him relatively tuneful, for a vampire," Lorne responds. "I also found out that he has a soul."

"What?," Angel asks, supporting himself against a column to keep from falling down.

"What a copycat!," Cordy declares. "What total and complete copycat. Lemme guess – he's also fallen in love with Buffy!" She laughs until she notices Lorne isn't. However, once Angel realizes Lorne is serious, he starts laughing.

"Good luck with that! Talk about hurling yourself into a brick wall. Spike . . . and Buffy?" He laughs some more. "Spike always was an enormous masochist. I'm sure he gets off on the rejection."

"Is he cursed?," Fred asks.

"Who would bother?," Angel chortles.

"It seems the choice was his," Lorne reports. Angel stops laughing. Wesley's glad he's sitting down.

"Why on earth would any self-respecting demon choose to a get soul? Or any non-self-respecting demon, as the case may be."

"Buffy," Angel says with dread. "He's trying to impress her."

"Is this sorta thing normal?," Fred asks. "Okay, on a scale of zero to ten, ten being normal and zero being never happened before in the history of mankind, where would this rate? From everyone's silence, I'm guessing it's somewhere between one and zero. "

"I think we need to know more about the specific circumstances before we can pass judgement," Wes cautions, wary of giving Spike any credit.

"How do you get your soul back?," Fred asks. "Ah mean, if ya want it back?"

"There are trials," Lorne explains. "Similar to what Angel went through to save Darla, but far more elaborate." Angel glares at him. "Or, so I've heard."

"He probably just asked Willow to put a spell on him," Cordy guesses. "She's such a pushover, always doing everyone else favors."

"Is he Cursed?," Fred inquires once again, enraging Angel.

"He's miserable," Lorne assures them. "Suffering from a serious case of buyer's remorse."

"Did you see his future?," Wesley wonders.

"Futures can be altered."

"What did you see?," Angel asks.

"Death, pain, suffering. Much of it Spike's."

"What about Buffy?" Cordy groans, incensed by Angel's renewed fixation.

"She's not involved." Angel looks relieved. "Which seems to be the problem."

"You lost me back there, Lorne."

"He wants attention. Her attention. If he doesn't get it, he'll try a cry for help. And by cry for help I mean kill people until she notices him and validates his sacrifice."

"What sacrifice!?," Angel demands to know. "Spike has never sacrificed anything. It's not in his character."

"Characters can change," Fred points out. Now Cordy, Wes and Gunn join Angel is worrying about her Spike-ish sympathies. Angel remembers Spike telling him "We don't change! Demons don't change!" But he's not in the mood for irony right now.

"If he's got a soul, why's he killin' people?," Gunn asks.

"Because he's Spike," Angel offers.

"He hasn't killed anyone yet," Lorne clarifies.

"He tried to kill us," Cordy points out.

"He wasn't himself. Something's brainwashed him."

"Must've been on the light cycle," Angel quips. Cordy and Wes chuckle.

"I don't buy it," Cordy argues. "I don't believe some evil entity can come and take over a good person's body. Not unless they were bad to begin with. It's ridiculous. We're not puppets."

"And the marionette told Spike to come here and hurt my friends while I wasn't myself?," Angel asks.

"I think he came here for help. Maybe someone to relate to. Though I also sensed a strong need to brag, which can't be good. But then he stopped being himself. Or, he became a different version of himself."

"We were all different versions of ourselves," Wes notes.

"But this isn't a one-time occurrence. Because of some icky unresolved Oedipal Complex, he's wired for murder. I need to get in touch with Buffy."

"No," Angel orders. "She'll do what she has to."

"You want her to kill him!"

"You just said he's a killer," Gunn reminds Lorne. "That's what the good guys do to demons who attack people."

"It's not his fault."

"Would you give up on Angel if he turned into Angelus?," Fred asks Gunn. He doesn't answer at first.

"That's different."

"Angel's a Champion," Wesley adds.

"How do we know this Spike guy isn't?," Fred asks, causing Angel, Wes and Cordy to gasp in amazement.

"Have you seen him?," Cordy asks rhetorically. "No champion has hair like that."

"Spike lacks the requisite depth of character to be a Champion," Wesley argues. Angel's glad he doesn't have to make these points and appear petty.

"Whatever happened to don't judge a book by its cover?," Lorne asks.

"Spike's nothing but cover," Angel replies.

"I wish I could help him," Lorne laments.

"How about trying to help us!?," Angel shouts.

"Two birds with one stone."

"Come again?," Wesley asks.

"Say Spike left with Connor. I don't know, but say he did. Then he's either turning Connor against you, or trying to kill Connor. Depending on whether Spike's good or evil."

Angel looks outraged and perplexed. "Which one is which?," Fred asks.

"Spike may be under the impression that Connor is some destroyer sent here to obliterate the universe. It's a valid assumption - "

"I can see how someone would - ," Fred begins, before Angel's look of death shuts her up.

"Spike may think it's his mission to kill Connor and thereby save the world a mess of grief." Angel sprints to the door. Cordy follows.

"I'm going alone. He could hurt you."

"Hate to spoil the mood, but ain't we overreactin'?," Gunn asks. "Boy grew up in a hell dimension. I think he can handle Billy Idol."

"True, but he might not be able to put him away," Angel replies, grabbing a stake before leaving.

"You're gonna kill 'em!?," Fred exclaims. "Ain't that like throwin' out the baby with the bathwater?"

"Connor's the baby," Angel retorts before leaving.

"Why do Buffy's problems always have to come here and bite us in the ass?," Cordelia complains.


	4. Buffy the Homewrecker

"Of course you grew up in another dimension," Spike says to Connor. They are in Connor's loft. "Putting you on the earth in real time would've screwed things up with Buffy. Not to mention your mum. How does a father explain to his twelve year-old son that he's just staked mommy!"

"My father did what?"

"She was resurrected a few years after he did her in. It was Darla or Buffy, and Angel made his choice." Connor's fury grows.

"Who's Buffy?"

"Only the star Angel's life revolves around. Of course he wouldn't mention her to you. Why mess up a good thing with the truth?"

"What truth?"

"Never mind," Spike says, stringing Connor along. "I'm sure if he knew then what he knows now, he would've acted a little differently." His eyes light up. "Actually, if SHE knew now what Angel knows, I bet she'd feel very different about the old boy." He chuckles wickedly.

"My father loves Cordy."

Spike scoffs. "Maybe in the way he loves Percy, or little miss Texas, but not the way he loves Buffy. You, Angel, Cordy – you're in a love triangle without a third side. She's yours for the bloody taking. And believe me, you more than match up to her standards. She's done a LOT worse. So what if there's a few years age difference? My sire had twenty years on me. Your mum had a century-and-a-half on Angelus."

"Did you know my mother?"

"In the biblical sense? There was that one time . . . which, I'm guessing, is not wut you're asking about. We hung out for a good two decades. I was hardly her favorite, to put it mildly, but we were on speaking terms. Though we never really talked much."

"What was she like?" Spike thinks of a lot of things, none of which you want to tell a son about his mum.

"Very nurturing. She really loved your dad. Too bad the feeling wasn't mutual." Spike's head suddenly darts in another direction, as if he's seeing something that isn't there. "It's getting late, champ. I think I should be heading back."

"Wait. Take me with you. I wanna meet this Buffy."

Spike grins, chuckles and puts his right hand on Connor's left shoulder. "Maybe tomorrow." He looks around at the loft. "Nice place you got here. Too bad you have to climb seven flights of stairs to reach it."

"No you don't." Connor points to the freight elevator. Spike grimaces.

"Bloody hell!," he bangs the wall. Then he presses the button and waits a few seconds. "Sodding lift's busy. Why am I complaining? It's not like I'll be short of breath." Spike takes the stairs. The person using the elevator is Angel. Ten seconds later, the door opens. Connor glares at him.

"Connor. Thank God you're all right." Angel goes to hug him. But Connor is really not in the mood. He pushes his father to the ground.

"What do you care? I'm only family."

Angel stands up, utterly mystified. "Connor, I can explain. There was a spell."

"I'm not talking about tonight. Now get the hell out." He brandishes a bottle of water in his right hand."

"Connor, that's a bottle of Aquafina." Connor throws some in Angel's face, which burns. "Owww!," he cries out, grabbing his face. "Apparently, filled with holy water. Connor, why are you doing this to me?"

"I could do worse. You have."

"I know what you saw. But I didn't hurt Cordy. I didn't hurt anyone. And I'm all better now."

"Didn't hurt anyone," Connor fumes, working himself to a boil. "Didn't hurt anyone. Didn't hurt anyone!" He hurls some more water, which Angel blocks with his hands. Connor grabs the injured Angel and throws him down a flight of stairs. "You never wanted me. You never wanted mom. You never wanted Cordy. You're nothing but a cheater and a liar."

"Connor, what is this about? You've never acted . . . quite this way." There was something different about his current patricidal rage.

"Why don't you go ask Buffy?" Connor slams the door. Now this, Angel had not been expecting. Back home, he tries to sort through matters with Wes, Lorne, Gunn and Fred. His face and hands are still burnt from the holy water.

"I've never seen him like that."

"You've never seen Connor mad at ya?," Fred asks incredulously.

"You've never seen him wanna hurt you?," Lorne adds.

"This was different. The look on his face; the tone in his voice; it's like he thinks I betrayed him somehow."

"You did," Wesley states, feeling uncomfortable talking about betrayal with Angel. "Unwittingly. And ridiculously anachronistically. But, nonetheless, to Connor, Buffy is the Other Woman."

"That is ridiculous. I haven't even talked to her since Connor was born."

"You killed the woman who gave him life."

"And if I hadn't, Darla couldn't have been resurrected as a human, and Connor would've never been born!"

"The boy does seem impervious to irony," Lorne points out.

"Where did Connor get the idea his mother was so wonderful?," Gunn asks. "I'm sure Holtz wasn't too crazy about her."

"People feel an instinctive attraction to their mothers," Lorne offers. "I don't. But I hear it's widespread among you humans."

"Someone dies so you can live," Fred says. "That's gotta mean something."

"It is Holtz," Wesley argues to the surprise of everyone. "He knew Angelus and Darla as a couple. In the eighteenth century, and in the twenty-first. He probably thought you two were always together. So that's probably the idea Connor grew up with."

"Children hate divorce," Fred adds. "Even if it's cause one parent's evil and the other's not. And even if they ain't parents yet."

"It's more than that. He was also ranting and raving about Cordy. Hey, where is she?"

"She said something about not being able to bear staying here," Lorne responds.

"Don't worry. She's probably with Connor," Wesley theorizes.

"At least that means he'll stay in LA," Angel says with resignation.

"Whadya mean by that, chief?," Lorne asks.

"Spike's obviously trying to use Connor."

"One of your enemies using your own son against you," Lorne comments. "The more things change . . . "

"He's using her against Buffy."

Spike's walks into Xander's apartment. Buffy is waiting for him. She doesn't look happy. "So where were you tonight?," Buffy asks pointedly.

"Around. I met some people. I talked. Didn't kill anyone, if that's what you're asking." He walks into his room.

"Didn't need to," The First, dressed up as Drusilla, tells him with a smile. "Our little birdie will see that's awl taken care of. Little parrot. Says wut he's told. Believes wut he hears. My perrrfect vessel."


	5. Trust no one

Connor is in a convenience store, moving between the aisle and the cooler. The manager catches sight of him, and Connor quickly zips around the corner. The manager loses sight of Connor, then sees the door to the store room swing back and forth. "Hey!" He runs back there and pops his head out the rear exit, but the boy is nowhere to be seen. Also in the store was Anne. She leaves without buying anything, gets back in her car, and goes after the young man. She finds him a few blocks away, walking down the street eating a cupcake. Anne pulls over and stops the car next to him. Connor eyes her warily. She steps out.

"The candy bars and the Twizzlers, that's typical. I've caught a few of my kids doing that. But the Cocoa Puffs, Pop Tarts and that half-gallon of milk - that's bold."

"What do you want?" Everyone who's ever approached Connor has wanted something.

"Nothing. Just to help. If you need any."

"I don't." Connor starts to walk away.

"I run a shelter. For kids like you." Connor laughs and shakes his head.

"Not like me."

"Youre the one who fights the vampires." Okay, so the blonde lady isn't completely clueless. Connor manages a small smile.

"Someone has to."

"You've saved some of my kids' lives. They've talked about you."

"Good stuff, right?"

Anne laughs. "Of course. But, also that you're a little stand-offish and kind of prickly. Which I now see is a, fair assessment."

"I'm not used to people," Connor confesses. Anne is perplexed.

"Do you have a place? You don't sleep on the streets?"

"I did. Now I don't. I found a home."

"You're squatting."

"No. I'm standing," a confused Connor replies. Anne wonders if he's being a smartass, but Connor doesn't look like he's joking. Plenty of street kids are antisocial, but this kid makes the worst of them seem well-adjusted.

"You live alone, or with friends?"

"There's a girl. I take care of her."

"How long have you been on your own?"

"About a month."

"And before that? Look, I don't mean to pry."

"My dad threw me out. Which was fine. He was probably going to hurt me if I stayed."

"Your father hit you?"

"We'd fight. Sometimes he's okay. But then, other times, he can be a real monster." Anne assumes Connor's dad is an abusive alcoholic.

"I was a runaway, too. I know what it's like. It's tough, even without the vampires and the demons."

"You know about those?" Okay, so maybe she's wasn't completely clueless.

"More than I'd like to. I'll never forget the hideous, monstrous face of the first vampire I ever saw. But somebody saved me. There are people out there you can trust."

"Like you?"

"I hope so. Here's my card. Stop by anytime. Even if you just want someplace to hang out, or talk. I know how lonely the big city can feel."

"There are lonelier places." Connor takes off, prepared to work with the vampire Anne sees as the symbol of all that's evil in order to hurt the woman Anne sees as the symbol of all that's good. When he gets back, Cordy's awake and watching television. Connor looks through her yearbook. He finds the senior picture of Buffy Summers, and prods it with the point of his dagger. He starts poking it harder, then jabs the blade through her face several times.

"Whatchya looking at?," Cordy asks.

"Nothing. Just pictures of you." He flips to the cheerleading pages. "You had really pretty hair. I mean, you still do. But different."

"Thanks for the food."

"No problem."

"And about last night."

"I know. There was a spell. Everyone was different."

"I really, really, really care about you, Connor. I love you. But not in the, not in the way you may want me to."

"I know. You told me before." Cordy sees him sulking, and walks over. She sits next to him, and takes Connor's left hand in her right.

"You're an amazing young man. Kind, and strong, and brave. A true Champion."

"Like my dad?," Connor asks with a scowl as he stands up and walks away.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"I'm not like him. I'm different."

"In many, many ways. But you're a hero. Like him. And that's a good thing. I know it can be tough, and painful, and hard. But don't give up. People need you. I need you."

"You do?," Connor asks with a small smile.

"Of course." Cordy walks over, smiles and puts her right hand to his left cheek. Connor smiles briefly, then turns around and walks away.

"I'll be out tonight. Hunting. You should be safe. I'll set the traps. And I'll give you this." He hands her gun. Cordy gasps.

"Connor, where did you get this?"

"Took it from a guy a couple nights ago. He was trying to hurt a man and a woman. But I stopped him." Connor doesn't mention that he stopped the attempted armed robbery by snapping the bad guy's neck. Connor hasn't learned to distinguish between bad demons and bad people.

"It was nice of you to help them. But you shouldn't keep a loaded - is it loaded?"

Connor takes out the clip, puts it back in, cocks the gun and puts on the safety, alarming Cordy. "Ten bullets. Well, nine. I fired one to see how it worked. It didn't hit anything."

"Umm, Connor, maybe I'll just, uhhh - "

"You're right. You're tough enough without it."

"On second thought, better safe than sorry." Cordy takes the gun. She doesn't know it yet, but this is the first overt manipulation of her by the acolytes of Jasmine. With all the killing she'll be doing, a handgun could come in handy.

"I could stay. But, people need me. If I don't save them, they'll die, and that would be bad. I need to make a difference."

"That sounds like something your father would say." She doesn't notice that maybe he was overdoing it in an attempt to conceal his true intentions.

"We're very different. Don't forget that." As soon as the sun sets, Spike leaves Xander's apartment. Anya immediately reports this to Buffy, but Buffy's on foot, and Spike's not. By the time she's in position to follow him, he's left Sunnydale. Connor meets Spike at the appointed time and place, and Spike turns around heads north, Connor hanging on in back. It's the sort of image that would give Angel an aneurysm, which is saying something, since Angel has no heartbeat. But once they leave the northern suburbs and get on an empty patch of road, Connor puts a stake against Spike's back. He veers the bike rightward into the railing. Connor flies off and falls down a ravine, as does Spike. Connor stands up, grabs the stake and walks over to Spike, who is on his back.

"What the bloody hell!," Spike yells as he looks up at his attacker.

"Did you really think I could ever trust a vampire?"


	6. Connor Against The World

Connor attacks Spike. Connor attacks Andrew. Connor attacks Buffy. Connor attacks vampires. Connor pretty much takes on the whole town of Sunnydale. Except for one of Dawn's old friends, whom Spike is busy seducing.

Connor kicks Spike three times while he's down. When Spike tries to get to his feet, Connor hits him in the nose with a right cross. He kicks Spike in the chin, takes the stake in his right hand and goes for the kill. Spike grabs the stake with both hands and pushes Connor away with his feet. When Spike stands up, Connor leaps fifteen feet through the air and knocks him down with a right hook. Spike tumbles further down the embankment. Connor glides down. "White boy can jump." Connor tries a right hook kick. Spike grabs his foot. "But can he fly?" Spike hurls Connor thirty feet through the air. "Oww!! Owwww!!!!" Connor marches back towards Spike. "Now what the bloody hell did I ever do to you?"

"Why are you helping me?"

"Good question. It's one I started asking myself the moment you tried to bloody stake me!"

"Go ahead, tell him," the First Evil in the form of Buffy says to Spike."

"This is a trick. It's a lie. Everything's a lie."

"Not when it comes to me. Everything I've told you is the God's honest truth."

"Maybe we should bleed him," Buffy says to Spike. "You think he's got enough to activate the seal. I'm just dying to find out. The blood of the miracle child."

"Will you shut up!"

"I didn't say anything," Connor replies.

"I'm taking you to Sunnydale. After that, you're free. Do whatever you bloody well want."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Cuz Angel never would." Connor thinks about this. On the one hand, it doesn't answer his question. On the other hand, he's easy prey for anti-Angel rhetoric. Then again, the vampire could be lying. Connor walks to Spike without saying a word. "Wait a minute. Are you in or out?" He stabs the stake with his right hand. Spike uses both hands to block it. So he knocks Spike down with a left hook. "Okay, out it is." Spike stands up, blocks a left cross and a right hook, then knocks Connor back with a right jab that causes Spike to grab his head.

"Maybe I'll just take the bike and go to Sunnydale on my own," Connor proposes.

Spike thinks about this. Dammit. He has no leverage to ensure Connor's good behavior. "Do you even know how to drive it?"

"Can't be too hard."

"Do you even know the way to Sunnydale?"

"I'll find it."

"And then wut? You find Buffy, and Buffy kills you."

"I'm not scared of her. I'm not scared of anything."

"She has friends. Scoobies. Helpers. Like Angel has. One of them's a witch who can skin you alive. I bet Angel doesn't have that."

"Buffy has minions?"

"Yeah. And you can't deal with her and them at the same time. That's where I come in."

"Fine," Connor says as he walks up the hill back to the road. "But I work alone."

"I think I sussed that out when you tried to kill me." Spike takes the stake, just to be safe. They get back on the bike An hour later, they have arrived at their destination. Connor gets off the bike.

"This is it?"

"A small town with a city-sized demon population."

"Where's the Mouth of Hell?"

"Closed for the time being. Which means Buffy's not on high alert."

"I can surprise her." Spike tosses Connor's stake back to him.

"Hey, you managed to surprise me." Spike rides away, humming "Early One Morning." Connor knows this Buffy is powerful. He'll need supplies. Find the right store and use the five-finger super-power discount. He walks down Main Street. This town is much quieter than L.A. Eerily quiet. Fewer cars. Smaller buildings. Fewer people. Which makes them easier to notice. He spots Andrew across the street, walking nervously in his new black leather coat. In an instant, Connor crosses the street and steps in front of Andrew. To him, the stranger seems to come out of nowhere.

"You have blood on your hands."

"I'm sorry. You have the wrong number." Andrew tries to walk by Connor, who grabs his wrists tightly.

"Human blood." Connor stares into Andrew's eyes. He quickly cracks.

"Please, please don't tell."

"Tell who? I don't know anyone." He looks at an alley in front and to his left, grabs Andrew's right arm, and drags him into the alley, slamming Andrew's back into the wall.

"What do you want?" Connor smiles.

"Rope. About oh, I dunno, thirty feet."

"What kind?"

"What do you mean?"

"How thick?"

"Thick enough to tie you to a post. Okay, thick a enough to hold a man twice your size to a post."

"There's a hardware store two blocks from here. B-b-but I think it closes soon."

"Then hurry." Connor lets go. Andrew starts to walk away, then turns around.

"How, how will I know where to meet you?"

"I'll find you. And if you don't have it - " he takes Andrew's right hand in his left hand and starts squeezing, covering Andrew's mouth with his right hand to muffle the screams. After five seconds, he lets go of the hand. Another five seconds later, he takes his hand off Andrew's mouth. Andrew moans and hyperventilates. He falls to the ground in agony and looks up at Connor in terror.

"Yes master. Thy will be done." He stands up and runs away. Andrew figures this must be some creature Warren sent to do his bidding because Warren can't assume corporeal form. He must be upset that killing Jonathan the night before did not have its intended effect.

Connor spends the next half hour scouting. He recalls Holtz's stories of hunting Angel, and decides he needs to get himself a couple of demon lackeys. Connor knows where they hang out. And since Sunnydale has far fewer buildings than Los Angeles, it's a lot easier to find these haunts. No cavernous five-story warehouses. Just a boarded-up gas station. Connor knows to look wherever buildings have been abandoned by humans. As he gets close, he hears a television on inside. Jackpot. Connor returns to downtown Sunnydale and quickly tracks Andrew's scent. He's wandering, terrified up and down Main Street, and in and out of the alley where Connor "propositioned" him.

"You really suck at this." Andrew turns around and shivers when he sees Connor. The young man has this look, this stare, this look of cold fury that Andrew's only seen in movies. "Good thing I don't need you anymore." Andrew drops the bag.

"Here it is. Ten yards. Very sturdy. Excellent tensile strength." Connor looks in the large bag. Then he looks at Andrew. "Is that all, master?"

"Give me your coat."

"But I paid a lot of money for this coat." Connor stares at him. Andrew hands over the coat. Connor puts it on. He doesn't like how long it is in back. It's like something his father would wear, Connor thinks to himself. He tosses the coat back to Andrew.

"You're a murderer."

"I'm a victim of forces beyond my control."

"I see you again, or I find out you told anyone about me, I make you pay, murderer." Andrew turns and sprints away, tripping after twenty feet. He stands up, glances back at Connor, and takes off again. He thought he only had Buffy and Willow to be scared of.

Connor slings half the rope over one shoulder and across his body, and half over the other shoulder, like they're ammunition belts. He returns to the gas station and kicks open a metal door. Two vampires sitting on a couch look to their right, and see a thin, shadowy figure. It's not the Slayer. So it must be one of their own kind.

"You new in town?"

"You should learn to knock." Connor drops the rope on the concrete floor. Then he walks up to the black-and-white television. It's slightly larger than his. He puts his left foot through the screen.

"Knock." The vampires stand up.

"You did not just do that."

Connor laughs. "Are you guys trying to threaten me?"

"No. A threat is, don't touch my set or I'll kick your ass.' We're beyond threats."

"Good." They attack. He puts the one to his left on his back with a left uppercut, and grabs the other one's right arm when he throws a punch. He then lands two left hooks. When the first vampire gets up, Connor decks him with a right roundhouse kick. He gives the second vampire a right uppercut to the chin, knocking him down. He grabs the vampire's shirt with his left hand and lands six right windmill punches to the vampire's skull, knocking him out. The remaining vampire punches Connor in the back. He spins round and connects with the back of his left hand. The vampire makes a run for the open door. "I love this part," Connor says as he gives the vampire a head start. Then he flies through the air and tackles the vampire just before he makes it out. Connor slams the vampire's head into a steel I-beam, then lands four straight left hooks to finish him off.

When the two vampires wake up, they are both hog-tied to a two-by-four that is resting between two girders ten feet off the ground. They look at each other. Then they turn their heads to look down and see Connor smiling up at them. "What is your damage?" Clearly this boy was some sort of sicko.

"I'm going to fight Buffy. Do you want to join me?"

"Well, no. She's dangerous." He pokes them with a sharpened broom handle.

"So am I."

"If you're looking to raise a posse to try and take her down, you should know it's been done before. And it's always failed."

"I don't fail."

"Your funeral."

He pokes them some more. "And yours. If you don't help me." They realize they're damned either way. Connor leaps up, grabs the board and brings them back down to the ground. Then he unties their arms and legs. Once free, they're still too scared of Connor to try and rebel.

Spike mosies on into the Espresso Pump. In the back, a woman with an acoustic guitar sings "What If God Was One Of Us." He spots a redhead at the counter. It's Dawn's old friend Janice. He walks up to her as she gets her coffee. "I hate this bloody song."

"I kinda like it," she responds.

"Pity. I had you pegged for someone with good taste." She looks at Spike, with his killer grin and shimmering hair and twinkling eyes, and her knees quiver. High school boys were boring and predictable. Spike looked anything but.

Through the window, from across the street, Buffy can see Spike putting the moves on a young girl. Since Janice has her back to the window, Buffy can't recognize her. And she won't get a chance to. "Aiigghh!! Aiigghh!! Somebody help me!!!" Buffy hear Connor's cries for help and races down a side street to save him. Connor uses the edge of his stake to cut his right arm just below the shoulder. When Buffy becomes visible, one of the vampires puts Connor on his back with a right hook.

"Do you mind?," Buffy asks, knocking a vampire to the ground. "I was in the middle of something," she adds before throwing the other vampire into a wall. She quickly finishes off the first vampire. But no sooner does she start sparring with the second vampire than Connor steps up and snaps its neck from behind. The vampire turns to dust, revealing Connor. "Thank you." Buffy realizes something isn't right. But before she has time to react, Connor swings his right arm and pounds her in the head with a large monkey wrench. Connor lands three more blows to knock her unconscious.

"You're welcome."

When Buffy wakes up, she's in the abandoned gas station's garage. Her hands are tied to ropes that are anchored to the rafters. Her feet are tied to ropes anchored to support beams about six feet behind her. She has a large purple bruise on her forehead from the first shot she took, and the other three head shots also hurt. Before her stands a young man in jeans, a long-sleeve black t-shirt and a short-sleeve olive green t-shirt. He stares at her. "I hit you hard enough to kill a human. A demon, on the other hand - "

"Take a look in the mirror! Oh, I'm sorry. You can't." Connor steps forward and hits her right cheek with a left jab.

"I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Connor."

"And I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Connor strikes her mouth with the back of his left hand.

"I'm a vampire slayer. You're nothing but a Soul-Stealing Succubi."

"Huh?" Clearly, this vampire was not playing with a full deck.


	7. Getting to know your captor

"Did you just call me a Soul Stealing Succubi?"

"If the shoe fits."

"What shoe?"

"Angelus."

"Angelus? Oh, Angel. Angel's a shoe?"

"He's my father."

"Your what!?" Buffy was dealing with a grade-A psycho. Or was she? "Oh. You mean he's your sire."

An enraged Connor punches Buffy in the mouth with his right fist, causing her body to snap back before being caught by the ropes. Blood trickles down the left side of her lower lip. "I am not a vampire!" He sure hit like one.

"That's too bad. For your sake. Because, if you're a vampire, this is pretty normal behavior. But, if you're not, then you're just some disturbed sicko with a bad haircut."

"You don't like my hair?"

"It's a little long on the sides. And the bangs could use some trimming. Why the hell are we talking about this?"

"Tell me about my father."

"You mean your sire." Connor looks angry. "Sorry. Father. You're the one with unlimited us of all four limbs. If you think you have a father, then you must think you have a mother. What's her name?"

"Darla."

"Darla . . . Darla." Buffy pauses. "Now where have I heard that name before?" She thinks for about ten seconds. "I know! She's Angel's sire. And she tried to kill me. Horrible aim. Darla's your mother'. Now I know where you get the bad hair from." Connor smashes her nose with a left jab. Buffy's body whips back-and-forth as the ropes hold her in place. "You don't hit like a man. I mean that as a compliment. Sort of."

"You're a very hateful person."

Buffy starts laughing. "Am I the one tying people up?"

"Did I say anything mean about your mother?"

"My mother wasn't a mass murderer."

"Wasn't. She's dead?"

"Yes. So if you're thinking of killing her too, you're out of luck."

"I'm sorry." He actually looks sincere.

"I've dealt with some real wack jobs in my time, but you, you - ," Buffy chuckles and shakes her head. "What's your name? You've told me your parents' names, I've told you my name - "

"Connor."

"Okay. Connor. Do you have a last name?"

"You live with your father?"

"Excuse me. I don't mean to sound childish, but I asked first. And where the hell do you get off quizzing me about my life? Usually I don't get so personal with people trying to kill me."

"Your mom's dead. Is your father still alive?"

"Yes. But he's far, far away, in case you're also thinking of cracking his skull."

"You're alone."

"No - I - that's none of your business." She doesn't even want to think about what this freak would do to Dawn. "Do you have a last name, Connor?"

"No. Not really." Holtz gave him a last name and a middle name, but since he's dropped Steven, it only makes sense to drop the others as well.

"Interesting. Because people have last names. Vampires and demons usually don't. Just something I thought I'd point out."

"Buffy Anne Summers," Connor says for no reason as he thinks over how precisely to handle the situation.

"You've done your research. How stalker-like."

"Stalk?," Connor asks with a disturbing laugh. "You came to me. I didn't even have to track you."

"Tracking. Another thing people don't usually engage in. Look, Connor, I think you should know, you're not the first man to tie me up. Far from it. Oh. Wait. That might have come out wrong. You're not the first man to take me captive. Although you are the first to secure my arms AND legs." She pulls on the ropes. "And you seem to have done a good job."

"Careful. Pull it free, those supports break off, and the roof might cave in."

"I'm guessing I'm not the first person you've done this with, either."

"Holtz used to tie me up. He started when I was five. I had to get free and find him. When I got bigger, he made me promise to wait a whole day before I started. Sometimes I cheated and left before sunup."

"Wow. Wow. This is starting to make all sorts of sense I wish it didn't. You've clearly had some very bad breaks, none of which I could have possibly been involved with in any way. So I'll do you a favor and give you a little warning. You can't win. I will escape. Or my friends will find me. Whichever happens first. And then, you'll be a dead man. I always win. So you can do the smart thing, untie me, and I'll let you go, provided you never, ever set foot in this town again. Or, you keep having your crazy little fun, knowing that your hours are numbered."

"You're a fighter. You don't give up. I like that."

"Thanks. And by the way, you're really good at being crafty and deceitful. Not to mention unhinged. You should be very proud of your efforts. Most men have to resort to drugs and cattle prods to get me in this position. You did it with old-fashioned trickery and muscle. I respect that in an enemy. By the way, why am I your enemy?"

"Do you love Angel?"

"Just so I'm straight on this, are you going to quiz me about all my relationships? Because I went through that just last night."

"Does Angel love you?"

"That's a trick question, isn't it? I get the sense that whatever I say, you'll hit me. Does Angel love me? Why don't you ask him? Come to think of it, why aren't you taking out all of this rage on your father'? Clearly he's the one you have a problem with."

"I sent him to the bottom of the ocean."

Buffy just stares at Connor for ten seconds. "Are we speaking metaphorically?"

"For three months. He's back now."

"Of course he is," Buffy replies condescendingly. The boy really appears to live in his own little fantasy world.

Connor turns to his left, staring at the bare wall to Buffy's right. "Mom?"

Buffy rolls her eyes. "Just what I need in my life. Another vampire who talks to invisible people."


	8. Whatever happened to Kit and Carlos?

"Look at you," Darla says with a glowing smile. "My brave, beautiful boy, all grown up into a handsome, noble man."

"Are you really here?"

"No she's not!," Buffy yells.

"I've always been here. I've always been with you. Watching over you. In your heart. Couldn't you feel me?"

"Yes. But why did you leave me? Didn't you want me?"

"There is nothing I wanted more in the world than to hold you in my arms."

"But you staked yourself. Before I even took my first breath."

"It was the only way."

"I don't believe that."

"Connor, I felt you dying inside of me. So I did what I had to do to give you a chance at life. The chance I never had. You were the only person I ever truly loved. The only good thing Angelus and I ever did together. Didn't he tell you this?"

"No."

Darla looks dismayed. "My dying words, my last request, was for him to tell you these things. Why didn't he? He had plenty of opportunities." Her eyes focus on Buffy. "Maybe he had other things on his mind. Other priorities." Connor glares at Buffy as Darla stands behind him.

"Oh no. Not the crazy stare," she says more with exasperation than fear.

"She's always come first to him," Darla whispers in his left ear. "That's why he lost you. Why he didn't try harder to keep Holtz from taking you away to Quor Toth. He's hidden her from you. She's his dirty little secret. His big lie. The reason he always sounds so insincere and hypocritical. All that stuff about loving Cordelia, it was just a smokescreen. His whole life is a lie."

Connor turns around to face Darla. "MY whole life is a lie."

"Okay, we're making progress," Buffy interjects. "You're starting to accept that you're not living in reality. Now work through that with the invisible shrink."

"Your life has always been a lie because his life is a lie," she says in slow, soft, motherly tones. "And his life is a lie because of her. Get rid of her, and all the lies melt away. You'll finally be free."

"Kill her?," Connor asks. Buffy tugs harder on the ropes and looks up to see if either of the ones on her arms are coming loose. He takes out his knife and walks towards Buffy. "Even if she is a demon, she still looks scared and helpless."

"Scared? Helpless? Ha! Boy, are you off the mark!," Buffy yells.

He runs the flat side of his dagger against her right cheek and looks her in the eyes, tilting his head slightly to the right. "I couldn't kill something so scared and so helpless. Not in cold blood." Buffy's in a bit of a quandary now. Does she continue her defiance, keeping it real but risking a violent reaction? Or does she play along and humor the lost boy until she can figure a way out?

"You wanna see help helpless I am? Go ahead and untie me." Connor looks down at the ground and seriously considers this.

"No!," Darla orders. "She's tricky. How else to you think she lured in Angel? Obviously not with her looks!" Connor laughs at this. Buffy just thinks it's the laughter of a nut case. Connor turns round and walks away from Buffy. Darla stays hot on his heels, talking into his right ear. "Don't let her get away. You'll never forgive yourself. Listen to me, son. Please listen to your mother." He turns round again and looks at Buffy from twenty feet away.

"She looks like someone I'd save in an alley."

"Oh!!," Buffy yells. Now he had really crossed the line.

"You want to know her true nature?," Darla says with a smile. "Ask her what she thinks of Cordelia." Connor ponders this.

"No. Too obvious. Like you said, she's tricky." Connor puts away the knife and walks towards Buffy.

"That's my boy," a proud Darla offers.

"I know a girl from Sunnydale. Went to high school with you. Her name's Cordelia Chase. Did you know her?"

"Why? Did you kill her?"

"I might." He laughs and shakes his head. "I'm only kidding. Cordy's, well, she's got some problems. She thinks she's better than everyone. She thinks she's perfect." He's actually describing what to him is the antithesis of Cordy.

"Like everyone should bow before her."

"Yes!" Connor grins and nods. Buffy thinks she's making progress. "All those clothes. Like they'd ever cover up her problems, make her look beautiful." Of course Connor thinks Cordy would look quite beautiful without any clothes. It's tough for him to pretend to despise her, but he soldiers on. After all, he is Angelus's son. Time to make evil daddy proud. "She's not even as pretty as you." That doesn't quite sound like a compliment to Buffy. Connor's trying his best, and occasionally he slips up. "What was she like in high school?" Connor literally wants to hang Buffy with her own words.

"I think you hit the nail on the head."

"What's that mean?" He really doesn't completely get the carpentry metaphor.

"It means she was a stuck-up, Little Miss Queen C." Connor laughs and gleefully nods his head. "Very rude. To everyone. It was as if the words went out her mouth before traveling through her brain. And since she was rich and popular, she thought she could get away with it."

"She was mean to people?" Once again, his anti-Cordy is identical to Buffy's actual Cordy.

"When wasn't she mean to people?" Connor giggles. "Completely self-absorbed. Not a care in the world for anyone else." Buffy has to be evil. No good person would ever describe Cordy in these terms. "She was bitch, and proud of it. Just ask her. I know she'd admit it. At least she's honest about herself. I'll give her that."

"But she was also selfish. And mean. And a bitch. Some people never change!" Buffy smiles. "Like you." Connor's expression changes to anger, and Buffy becomes worried. "Cordy is the nicest, bravest person I know." Buffy laughs because this is genuinely hilarious. Then she notices Connor's not joking.

"Then I feel sorry for you. You obviously haven't known that many nice people." With this, she was hitting the nail on the head. Connor puts the blade of his knife to the left side of Buffy's throat. His face looks deadly serious. She finds the fact that he can put on such a masquerade and switch personalities at the drop of a hat to be simply chilling. Definitely his father's son.

"I put a knife to her throat, and she glowed, and she healed me. Let's see if you can do that."

"What?"

"I knew it." Connor puts the knife in his pocket and walks away. "She has NO power!," he yells, throwing his hands up in the air. "Why am I wasting my time with her?"

"No power? No power!," Darla yells, pleading Buffy's case for her. "She made your father kill me. She took away his soul. And then, when he got his soul back, she punished him by sending him to Hell! No power!"

"That was a lifetime ago!" To Connor, more like two lifetimes.

"If you think I'm so powerless, why don't you untie me? I'm sure a big, strong man like yourself could keep a weak little woman like me in line." Now it's Buffy's turn to act. She thinks she deserves an Oscar for calling Connor a "big strong man" with a straight face.

"If Buffy's a threat, why didn't Cordy take care of her? Cordy could destroy her in a second."

"Okay, now you're just baiting me."

"Let her free, and she'll kill you," Darla pleads.

"Who said I was letting her go? I need to know more. I need to go find Spike."

"Connor. Connor, come back here! Don't you trust your own mother?" Buffy finds herself all alone. It sure was strange for him to abandon her like that. Maybe he was one of those psychos who got off on stretching out the suffering. It did give her friends more time to find her. But what was that Connor said about Spike? She still couldn't believe Spike was a killer. And even if he was, no way Spike would be in league with such a low-life.

Spike sits at the bar at the Bronze, drinking a beer. He looks to his right and spots Kit thirty feet away, where she's sitting at a table with Carlos. Kit looks Spike's way. Carlos glances over his shoulder. "Why you flirting with that old guy?" Kit and Spike both quickly look away from each other.

"I wasn't flirting. Besides, he's not that old."

"And what's up with his hair? He forget to mix the peroxide with water?"

"At least he doesn't use motor oil," she kids. Carlos lets it slide.

"I know Dawn would back me up on that creep."

"How do you know he's a creep?"

"He's macking on a high school girl. Need I say more? Speaking of Dawn, what was up with her today?"

"She said her house was haunted last night."

"Figures," he jokes. "And the limp?"

"Stepping on broken glass."

"Caused by the haunting?"

"Actually, yes."

"If things are that messed up at her place, isn't that a great reason for her to get out tonight?"

"You know how it is. Buffy probably made her stay in to do homework or something."

After forty minutes, Connor has yet to return. Tracking down Spike's scent is proving to be harder than expected. But tracking down a helpless Slayer - that takes slightly less time. A vampire enters the garage. He sees Buffy, her arms and legs bound and spread, and he smiles. "Perfect," she sighs. "Just perfect."


	9. Connor turns Buffy into a Damsel

The vampire gets close, looks Buffy over, and starts laughing. "I don't believe it! I don't believe my eyes!" He pokes her. "It's really you! Tied up and helpless. Is this a sexual thing? See, cause I've heard you like it a little kinky." Buffy grinds her teeth in frustration. Death would be preferable to enduring ridicule from some lowly, anonymous vampire. "I gotta get my buds!" He runs out.

Kit and Carlos exit the Bronze and walk to their respective cars. As Carlos opens the door, he hears footsteps and turns around. "Actually, Dawn liked my hair," Spike says before snapping the young man's neck. He quickly makes his way two blocks down the street to catch up with Kit before she can leave get in her car and leave. "You and that fellow aren't an item, are you?," he asks. Kit turns round to see Spike. She smiles nervously as he approaches.

"Umm, no." Spike grins. She bites her lower lip with excitement and nervousness.

"Good. That's why I didn't introduce myself in there. Didn't want to look like a bloody fool, embarrass myself," he offers self-deprecatingly, trying to hint at his sensitive side. Sometimes playing the shy bad boy reels in girls who would otherwise be repelled by an aggressive come-on.

"That's okay. I'm Kit."

"Spike."

"That's a funny name."

"My real one's William. Friends call me Spike."

"Why?"

"It's a little embarrassing, actually." Spike looks down at the ground and puts his hands in his back pockets. "I write poetry. Some of my schoolmates found it a little dodgy. One of them told me he'd rather have a metal spike driven through his head than listen to one more line of my twaddle." She laughs. He laughs. Spike may look bad, but to Kit he seems harmless.

Connor knows better, but he can't find his erstwhile partner/enemy. The First can mimic smells, and it sends Connor on a series of dead ends tracking phantom Spikes. Connor tires of the wild goose chase before he ever gets close to the actual Spike, and elects to return to Buffy.

Three vampires enter the station. "Take a look!," the one who first spotted Buffy proudly yells. "In the flesh!"

"And in chains."

"Ropes, technically."

"Whatever."

"What do we do? What do we do?," one of the two new vampires giddily asks.

"We kill her," the lead vampire responds.

"What about siring her?," the third vamp proposes.

"Are you insane?"

"We could play with her a little bit first." The other two smile. All three get within five feet.

"I hear you like our kind." For Buffy, this was woefully undignified. Once she figured out how to break free and kill these urchins, she'd teach her captor a very painful lesson. Maybe have Connor flayed before staking him. Buffy accepts that plenty of neer-do-wells want to kill her. But nobody turns her into a victim and gets away with it. The lead vampire runs his right hand through her hair. He leans in to bite the left side of her neck. But before he can dig in Buffy sinks her teeth into his left ear. He screams, backs up and notices that the ear is bleeding. Even if she can't use a single one of her limbs, Buffy still has some fight left. Another vampire kicks her in the chest, and his friend starts choking Buffy with both hands. Connor enters. He is horrified by what he sees.

"Leave her alone!" The three vampires stop attacking Buffy and turn to their left.

"You can have a bite if you want." Connor hates being mistaken for a vampire. A look a fury – a look Buffy's seen before – comes across his face. Connor leaps twenty feet forward and decks the injured vamp with a left hook. "Okay, I'll give you the honors. You can kill her." Connor knocks this vampire down with a right hook. The final vampire tries to bite the right side of Buffy's neck, putting his right hand against her chin to prevent her from biting him. Connor grabs the vampire and throws him twenty five feet backwards into a wall.

"Are you okay?," he asks Buffy. She's too shocked by the question to answer. Connor turns and faces an onslaught of two vamps. He downs one with a right hook and the other with a left roundhouse kick. The vampire he threw into the wall leaps fifteen feet in the air and nestles himself in the roof's support beams. That way, he's safe while his friends battle this extremely selfish vampire on the ground. But Connor leaps up, grabs a support beam, swings his legs up and kicks the vamp twice, knocking him to the ground. Connor then falls down, lands on his feet, and finds himself surrounded on three sides. He smiles. Buffy's seen that smile before - when he attacked her. Connor appears to be a vampire who's an equal opportunity killer. (He has to be a vampire. How else to explain his strength, or his leaping ability?) Connor exchanges punches, lands a kick, blocks a punch, lands a roundhouse kick, gets clobbered in the back, knocks a vampire down and stakes him, knocks another vampire down, but takes a hard punch from the original vampire. Connor now focuses on him, landing a left hook and a right uppercut, followed by a right kick to the chest that sends his back into the wall. He stakes the vampire, and watches as the final vamp makes a run for the door. Connor lets him get most of the way there before hurling his stake and nailing the vampire just before he exits. Buffy's a little offended by that. That's her move. Connor rushes over to her. "Are you okay?"

She takes a long pause. "I'd be more okay if I wasn't tied up." Connor appears to be unable to appreciate that she was only in danger because of his actions. Buffy's cell phone rings. Connor takes it out of her pocket and disconnects the battery. Then he calmy puts the battery in her right back pocket and the phone in her left back pocket. She cringes at the idea of him touching her, though Connor doesn't seem to enjoy it either.

"That's weird," Willow says to Dawn and Xander. "Her phone rang. Then it stopped. Now it's off."

"She could be in the middle of a slay," Xander suggests.

"Still, she was supposed to call more than an hour ago to report on Spike."

"Maybe you should go home and see if he's returned," Dawn suggests to Xander.

"This isn't like Buffy," a worried Willow declares.

"Are you gonna break out a locator spell?," Dawn asks with mild excitement.

"Apparently I'm the only one who thinks you're overreacting," Xander offers.

"This is Spike we're talking about," Willow replies. "Who knows what sick, twisted things he's trying to do to her."

"I'll get the ingredients." Willow's thinking torture and violence. Xander isn't. None of them imagine it's anything but Spike.

"I shouldn't have left you alone," Connor tells Buffy, sounding sincere.

"Again with the cluelessness. You shouldn't have lashed my arms to the rafters!"

"Let one monster free to kill three monsters."

"You're the monster!" Buffy's never met anyone with such an abundant combination of cluenessness, self-righteousness and cold, calculating malice. As if to prove her point, Connor strikes Buffy's face with the back of his left hand.

"I am not a monster!"

"Take a look in the mirror! Sorry, low blow. You can't." He connects with a powerful right jab to her nose, causing it to bleed heavily.

"I am NOT a vampire!!"

"Let's review the evidence, shall we?"

"You're the soul-stealing succubi," he responds bitterly. "I'm the human child of vampires."

"You keep believing that," Buffy responds dismissively to the ridiculous notion.

"You're at best a half-breed. Demon father and a human mother?"

"There's a lot of nasty things I could call my dad, but demon isn't one of them. I'm the Slayer."

"Slayers kill vampires. They don't screw them." Connor is under the impression that only people who are part demon – such as Cordelia – would consider having sex with a vampire. Therefore, Buffy must be part demon, like Cordelia, only less good and more evil than Cordy.

"Is that so? How many Slayers have you known?" Connor doesn't answer. "I thought so." Buffy tugs at the ropes. The rafter anchoring the rope holding her right arm is starting to buckle. Connor takes out his dagger.

"I can cut it off," he says, reaching the blade up towards her right wrist. "Just kidding." A macabre sense of humor. How vampiric. "That's something my father would do. I'm not like him."

"Ya think?," Buffy responds sarcastically. To her, this scrawny, callow kid was the antithesis of Angel.

"She's not moving," Willow says, looking at the map. "That's not good." The map catches fire. Dawn stamps it out.

"Maybe she's fighting," Xander suggests.

"Or maybe she's screwing him," Dawn replies acidly.

"Dawny!," Willow yells.

"We can't rule it out. Given everything."

"In an abandoned building? Buffy would never - "

"Can we stop speculating and start finding?," Xander asks. The three of them walk to the door.

"Maybe you should stay home, Dawny," Willow suggests condescendingly. "In case she returns." Dawn pouts and sits back down on the couch.

"You were tracking that vampire," Connor says to Buffy. "Why? Do you want to kill him?"

"Is that what this is about?" She thinks he's trying to protect Spike in order impress him and gain his favor.

"Killing Spike? If you want, I can stake him for you." Now things were getting complicated.

"You want to kill Spike. Why?"

"Why? He's a vampire!" Evidently Connor was a self-loathing vampire. Or maybe there's a simpler explanation.

"Spike has a soul. Is that why you want to kill him?" It makes sense: Connor evil, Spike good, so Connor is Spike's enemy. Connor laughs.

"Like Angel?" He laughs some more. "And you want to take it away. Like Angel! But, from what I saw, he wasn't interested in you. He had his eyes on other girls." This reminds Buffy that Spike might be killing at this very moment, further complicating an already bewildering evening. "Figures. Angel's over you. Far as he's concerned, you don't even exist." By this he means neither Angel nor any of his friends had ever mentioned her name.

"Your cluelessness really knows no bounds." Connor doesn't appear to listen. He seems to be living in his own private mental world.

"Spike has a soul? Does that make him good? Or is he still evil? Things are so confusing. It's hard to figure out who's telling the truth, who's on what side."

Without a doubt, this was the strangest psychopath she had ever encountered. "You're confused. Then maybe it isn't a good idea to bludgeon people you've never even met."

"You hate Cordy. That's all I need to know."

"I don't hate her. We're just not the best of friends. Why am I trying to reason with you?" Darla appears.

"Mom?"

"Case in point," Buffy quips.

"You have to leave. Her minions are coming. Go to the tracks. Wait for a southbound train. It will get you home before sunup."

"Minions? What kind?"

"Just go. Now! Listen to me, son." He looks at her face. Buffy can tell the hallucination is having a calming effect. "I want you to live more than anything. Please listen to me. Connor, I love you." And with these magic words Connor takes off. Less than a minute later, Xander and Willow burst into the garage.

"Buffy!," Willow exclaims.

"Oh God." Xander runs over. She has a bloody nose and a big welt on her forehead. "Did Spike do this?"

"I wish. Okay, cancel that." Xander gladly forgets. "It was a new vampire. Seriously disturbed. Willow, can you hocus-pocus me free?"

"Not without burning your fingers." Xander takes a sword to the rope a foot above her left hand. Now she grabs the other rope with both hands and yanks it loose, pulling down a roof support.

"Oops." Xander quickly cuts the bottom ropes, freeing her legs, and the three of them get out of there. Buffy tries to undo the knots. "He tied these really tight."

"Spike had nothing to do with this?," Willow asks skeptically.

"I was following him when this kid ambushed me and knocked me out."

"What kid?," Xander asks.

"He said his name was Connor. He obviously stopped taking his thorazine a few months ago. We're talking deeply delusional. You wouldn't believe the things he said to me."


	10. The 'Vampire' Hamlet

Willow and Xander take Buffy back to Xander's apartment, where she relates her strange encounter. "Last night you met a guy who said Spike was his sire," Xander recalls. "Tonight you met one who said Angel's his sire."

"Not sire. Father. He kept calling him father. And he said Darla was his mother."

"Vampires can't have two parents, I mean, sires," Willow remarks.

"And he kept insisting he wasn't a vampire. Whenever I called him one, he flew into a rage."

"He's in denial?," Xander asks.

"He's deluded," Buffy responds. "But I already mentioned that part. Plus, he's obsessed with Cordelia."

"She isn't a vampire, is she?," Xander inquires anxiously.

"Maybe he went to high school with us," Buffy proposes, "and I didn't notice him because he was too much of a freak even for me. Or he was a transfer student who was attacked right after he got to town. That would explain the Cordy fixation."

"You think he's mad at me for giving Angel his soul back?," Willow wonders.

"I doubt it. For an evil vampire, he seemed unusually pro-soul. He called me a soul-stealing succubi."

"What!?," Xander exclaims. "Where'd he get that from?"

"Buffy is not a soul-stealing succubi," Willow offers. "Except, for that one time, when I guess you were. But that wasn't your fault."

Xander finally understands. "No offense, but wouldn't he be glad about that?"

"And did I mention that he talks to invisible people?"

"Never a good sign," Willow comments.

"Let me get this straight," Xander proposes. "He hates you. He loves Cordy. He's weirdly attached to Angel. And he loves Angel's sire."

"Oh, and he's eerily calm," Buffy adds. "When he's not in a mouth-frothing rage. I got the sense this boy wanted to torture me for a long time."

"But he left," Willow recalls. "How soon before we got there?"

"Less than a minute, I think."

"That's suspicious."

"Like he new we were coming," Xander comments.

"He called you my minions."

"That's insulting!," Willow exclaims.

"There is a huge difference between Scoobies and minions. Demons have minions."

"He thinks I'm part-demon."

"Well you kinda are," Willow points out. "But not in a scaly, horny, disgusting way. In an empowering, heroic, sexy – to men – way."

"What if he's working for Spike?," Xander proposes, always one to implicate Captain Peroxide.

"He wants to kill Spike. That's what he told me."

"Why?," Xander asks, wondering if this Connor vampire thinks Spike's good.

"Because he's a vampire."

"Okay," Xander responds, pausing to reflect on Connor's convoluted logic. "Clearly this kid has some serious identity issues."

"Not to mention logic issues," Buffy points out. "If you want to kill vampires, why tie up a vampire Slayer?"

"Either he wants to kill you or work with you," Willow offers. "He should make up his mind. It's like he thinks he's some vampire Hamlet." Spike enters. Buffy stands up.

"How wus your night?," he asks casually.

"I've had better."

"Me too."

"You looked like you were having a pretty good time."

"So you were spying on me?"

"I was trying to do what I do every night: save lives."

"Well I wusn't taking any."

"What were you going after those girls for, then?"

Spike smirks. "A nice roll in an abandoned building." She punches him in the mouth. "Nostalgic, are we?" Neither Willow nor Xander feels comfortable with where this is going.

"Spike, did you know a vampire named Connor?," Willow asks.

"A vampire named Connor. Can't say I did."

"How about way back in the day?"

"Sorry. Doesn't ring a bell. Why?," Spike chortles. "Did this Connor' say I sired him?"

"Not exactly," Buffy responds.

"Then he's not my bloody problem. I take it you staked this vampire?" Spike turns right to go into his bedroom, but Buffy grabs his left arm.

"I'm going to find out what you're up to."

"Talk about setting yourself up for a bloody disappointment."

Connor stands along the railroad tracks. He hears the train approaching. "He did that to you?," Connor asks Darla.

"I know this is tough for you to hear. But I have to tell you, because you don't hide the truth from people you love."

"I guess not," Connor says with a disappointed look on his face. Darla disappears, and he leaps on the freight train, which gets him home a few hours before sunup. He heads straight to his loft and watches Cordy sleep.

"Were you okay last night?," Connor asks in the morning when she awakes.

"No ninja lawyers," she replies with a smile.

"I'm sorry I came back so late. But I was hunting. I killed four vampires. I think it's important to save lives and help people. I'm special, so I guess it's my duty or something."

Cordelia smiles. "You are so much like your father."

Connor scowls. "No. I'm not. I only have eyes for you." Cordy's made uncomfortable by the come on. She doesn't get the insinuation. A few hours later, Angel drops by. Connor steps in his way. He looks angrier than usual, which is saying something.

"Hi Connor."

"What are you doing here? The sun's out."

"I took the tunnels."

"You want to tell me about your curse?" Cordy's as shocked as Angel. She shakes her head, indicated that she said nothing.

"Who told you about that?"

"So it's a secret you wanted to keep from me."

"No. It's, it's not relevant right now. Where is this coming from?" It seems utterly unrelated to Connor's usual grievances.

"Perfect happiness. Is that what you can't have?"

"Um, yes." Angel's beginning to get it, and he appears nervous.

"Did you feel perfect happiness when you made me?"

"Connor, that was a complicated situation - "

"What did you feel?"

"Let me explain."

"What did creating me make you feel?"

Angel pauses. "To be fair, if I had known I was creating life, I would have felt differently."

"Perfect despair! Is that what you felt? Perfect despair! Is that what I am to you?"

Angel is stunned. "Where did you hear that?"

"No wonder you let Holtz take me." Now that was a low blow.

"Connor, stop it," Cordy pleads, walking over to him.

"You gave her a ring, said thanks for a good time,' and told her to leave town or else you'd kill her. Real nice way to treat the mother of your child."

"At that point, she wasn't the mother of my child. Connor, who told you these things?"

"Does it matter? They're the truth. You love someone, you don't hide the truth from them. You've hid a lot of things from me. And a lot of people"

"Things and people who have nothing to do with you."

"It's time to stop hiding in the darkness."

"What do you want to know? What questions do you have?," Angel asks, trying play along.

"Did you set my mother on fire before or after you slept with her?"

"Before. Connor, you have to understand, your mother was killing people."

"Nothing you haven't done, hypocrite." Angel doesn't get it. Connor's reasoning is shoddier than usual. But before Angel can point out the faults in his son's logic, Connor grabs Angel and throws him over his shoulder and towards the open window. Angel catches fire.

"Connor, no!," Cordy screams, grabbing his left arm. Connor pushes her to the ground and runs at his father, hitting him in the chest with a leaping right kick as he tries to escape into the shadows.

"How does it feel? How does it feel?," Connor asks as he grabs Angel and holds his father in the light. Flames shoot off of Angel's back. Cordy finally grabs both of Connor's arms from behind, pulling him away from his father long enough for Angel to run away from the window and roll along the ground. Cordy throws a blanket on top of him. She angrily looks to her left at Connor as she kneels over Angel.

"Connor, what's gotten into you?" He runs away. "I'm so sorry," Cordy says to Angel.

"It's not your fault."

"I didn't tell him anything. I swear."

"How could you? Most of those details you didn't even know."

"He's been acting strange – well, stranger – ever since Spike came."

"Spike couldn't know that stuff," Angel snorts. "Only Darla could."

There's a long silence. "You're not saying what I think you're saying."

"I don't know what I'm saying. All I know is someone who hates me is messing with my son's head."

"Wolfram & Hart. They brought her back once."

"Doesn't make sense. Who did Darla talk to?" Angel's eyes open wide with recognition. "Lindsey."


	11. Who to trust, who to kill, those between

Connor develops feelings for Anne. Buffy's haunted by what Connor did to her. Dawn wants to avenge the death of her friends. And Angel finally figures out that he's not the primary target of his son's wrath.

Angel is back in his room at the hotel, recovering from his burns and talking to Lorne. "So Connor hates you. So he wants to hurt you. What's different?"

"It's personal."

"And dunking you in the foamy brine wasn't?"

"Back then, he was punishing me for hurting others. Today, he tried to punish me for hurting him. Back then, he hated me for what I did as Angelus. Now he hates me for things I've done as Angel."

"No, sugarplum. It's an excuse. Since Connor was born, you've done absolutely nothing to make him think he wasn't the most important person in your life. If he thinks otherwise, it's only because he wants to."

"He had this look on his face. LIke I had betrayed him."

"But you haven't. Angel, you can't reason with the irrational."

"Connor doesn't like being exploited. I just need to explain to him who Lindsey is, and why he's using Connor."

"What makes you so sure it's Lindsey?"

"It has to be. Connor knew things I had told Darla. Who else could have known? And who else could have told Connor?"

"Coming at you through your son would definitely be Lindsey's style. Especially given his connection to mommy."

"If only I could find him. I need to track Connor tonight. See where he's going."

"Say you find Lindsey. Then what? Has he lied? Has he misled Connor?"

"That's not the point."

"He speaks the truth, but his motives are suspect. I'm sure that'll mean a lot to Connor."

"You think Angel would know better than to meet with Connor near a large window on a sunny day," Fred states.

"It's almost like he was tempting the boy," Gunn adds.

"Does this mean that Spike vampire's working for this Lindsey guy?"

"Naw. If a vampire wanted to make Angel feel bad, wouldn't he just try to kill us? Or Cordy?"

"That's a reassuring thought," Fred responds with a nervous sigh.

She couldn't get the boy out of her head. She couldn't stop thinking about him. She saw him everywhere. And not in the sexy way she once obsessed about his father. In a menacing, horrifying way. Connor had come out of nowhere and ambushed Buffy before she had a chance to fight back. He could be around any corner, behind any door, waiting to pounce. She was used to enemies who showed their face, introduced themselves and preened around flamboyantly, trying to intimidate her. Not Connor. He attacked first and talked later. Well, whined mostly. He had the cold blue eyes of a killer, the pouty, aggrieved lips of an adolescent suffering from an acute persecution complex. This was a catastrophic combination. The sort one finds in serial killers. Buffy's listening to a female student, and sees Connor behind the girl, grinning as he slits her throat. Buffy blinks, and he's gone. A little later, Principal Wood enters the room. Inexplicably, he turns into Connor. "You killed my mother," Connor/Wood says, brandishing a knife as he walks up to Buffy.

"What?"

"Did you talk to Scott Rasmussen's mother?" Connor's gone, Wood's back, and the knife is replaced by a pen.

"Yes."

"So I she signed the form, and now all it needs is my signature?"

"Yes." She fumbles with the files on her desk until she finds the right document. "Here it is." He signs it.

"Buffy, are you okay?"

"Sure. Just peachy."

"You seem a little on edge today."

"Rough night."

"Would that explain the rope burns on your wrists?" Buffy puts her hands under the desk. She had thought the burns were completely gone.

"It's not what you think."

"What you do in your private life is no business of mine."

"These injuries aren't, umm, recreational. See, I was helping a friend of mine on his boat, and, and, there were ropes, and tying, and such." Wood grins and chuckles at her flailing explanation.

"So you weren't attacked by some sociopath before pluckily foiling his attempts to imprison you?" Buffy laughs a little too long in response to this.

"Gosh no. What kind of girl do you take me for?" At first Buffy worried the principal would see her as some sexual deviant. Now she's worried he'll see her as a victim.

"One who knows how to get herself out of trouble. It's a dangerous town. At least that's what I've heard." He leaves. Now, on top of everything, Buffy has to wonder why she juxtaposed Principal Wood and Connor. They have absolutely nothing in common. Don't they?

In Connor's life, there had always been one goal, and only one goal, at any point in time. Defend Holtz against the demons. Avenge Holtz by hurting Angel. Keep Gunn and Fred from finding out how he hurt Angel. Find a place to live. Try and seduce Cordelia. That last goal remained. But it was joined by several other issues. Three, to be specific: what to do about Angel, what to do about Buffy, and what to do about Spike. Angel should be made to grovel and admit his mistakes, reversing the guilt dynamic between father and son. This should could be combined with making Cordelia see that Angel doesn't really love her. This brings Connor to Buffy. He's convinced she's part demon. He's also convinced she's the cause of substantial evil. But the vampires feared her, which balances the scales somewhat. She seems to have human emotions, which makes her harder to kill. What really gets Connor is her overweening pride, her sense of superiority. This makes Connor want to knock her down a peg, not knock her off. He went a long way to doing that the previous night. That left Spike. He was by far the simplest matter. Spike was a vampire, and thus assumed to be evil. Furthermore, he had already served his part, informing Connor about Angel's past and leading him to Sunnydale. Now he was useless, and probably dangerous. Spike needed to be knocked off. The sooner, the better.

Dawn enters Buffy's office before the last period of the day. Her eyes are red, and tears stream down her face. "Dawny, what's wrong?"

"You didn't hear?"

"Oh my God. Did something happen to Willow? Or Xander?"

"It's Carlos."

"Who?"

"My friend. We met met in the basement."

"Right. Carlos. What happened?"

"Police found his body. Apparently, he was killed last night when he left the Bronze."

"Oh no." She hugs Dawn. "I'm so sorry."

"Kit's missing. So's Janice."

"How do you know?"

"They weren't in school today."

"Maybe they were sick."

"I called their houses. Their parents said they didn't come home last night."

An angry, confused Connor walks over to Anne's shelter, and sees her outside unloading donations from the back of a station wagon. "Hi Connor!"

"Hi," he nervously responds.

"Did you come by to talk?"

"I dunno."

"How's your friend? The one you said was staying with you."

"She's okay. She's safe."

"Of course she is. She's with you." Connor smiles.

"Why are you nice to me?" Anne is taken aback by the suspicious question.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"People are nice to you for a reason. Usually cause they want something."

"I certainly don't want anything from you, Connor. I help people. That's my job."

"Why?"

"Because someone was there to help me when I needed it."

"What did they want?" Holtz helped Connor when he needed it, when the boy was very young and relatively helpless. But that was so Connor could one day hurt Angel.

"Nothing. Just, to help me."

"I wish I knew someone like that." Actually, he did. The night before, he brutally attacked her. Connor thinks Angel only cares about him because he's Connor's father, and therefore has to. Gunn and Fred only tolerated him because of their connection to Angel. And Cordy seemed to like him because he could protect her. Connor believes that if there was anything more to her feelings, she wouldn't have turned him down a little while back.

"Connor, I don't know your story. But I'm guessing it was bad enough to justify your suspicions about people in general. Not everyone's like that. There are a few good people in the world. More than a few, if you're willing to give them a chance."

"Like you?," he asks with a smile. Connor seems to be fishing for a surrogate mother figure. Or possibly a future crush. With Connor, it can be hard to tell the difference.

"I don't think you really need my help. But if you want to come over, just to hang out and meet people, you're always welcome. I know how lonely it can be out there."

"I can be a lot lonelier," he cryptically responds before walking off. When he's ten yards away, Connor looks back and smiles. Anne waves. If only all women could be like Anne, instead of shrill, arrogant Buffy, hot-and-cold Cordy, deceitful Justine and taser-loving Fred. Anne was the only woman, the only person, he felt comfortable trusting. Except for mom.

"Twelve missing in the past week. Mostly young girls," Willow reports, sitting at her computer in the dining room.

"Including my friends."

"Dawny, I know how much it hurts to lose someone close to you."

"Thanks, but I don't think flaying kills vampires." Willow and Buffy are horrified.

"Dawn, that's not funny," Buffy scolds.

"It wasn't meant to be."

"We can't be sure Spike's behind this."

"Then why don't we play it safe? Kill him, and if the disappearances stop, then we know we got the right guy."

"Spike has changed."

"I know. He's killing again."

"Dawny, settle down," Willow prods.

"Shut up, Willow-y. How would you feel if it were your friends?" Dawn storms upstairs.

When Connor returns to his loft, Cordelia is there waiting for him. "Connor, can we talk?"

"Depends. What about?"

"Sit down." She touches his shoulder and leads him to then wooden chest at the end of the bed, where he sits down. "Your father loves you."

"Not enough," Connor ruefully replies, looking past Cordy at the wall.

"And you also love him." He scowls at her. "Otherwise, why would you be so upset about Buffy?"

"Because she's a soul stealing succubi."

"True. But, has she been a part of Angel's life at all since you were born? Has he ever spent time with her instead of with you?"

"He liked her more than mom."

"That's a very complicated issue. What matters is that you were upset when you feared that you weren't number one in Angel's book. You care what he thinks about you. If you hated him, you wouldn't care."

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"What it'?"

"Buffy."

"She's an it. I should take back those things I said about you being just like your father."

"It's okay that she matters more to him than you do?" Cordy gulps and takes a long pause.

"Connor, I want you to tell me where you heard the things you told Angel. Who told them to you?"

"My mom."

"Your mother is dead."

"I know. She died so I could live."

"Which means, among other things, that she can't be around to talk to you."

"Yes she can. She's always been with me. In Quor Toth, whenever I got scared, she told me things would be all right."

"So . . . She' told you what you wanted to hear. Did she ever tell you anything you didn't know, and couldn't have known?"

"Sometimes, she told me to be careful, because there was something dangerous nearby."

"It was a demon dimension. That's not exactly prophetic."

"She's never led me wrong. She's always looking out for me."

"But this is the first time she's told you any secrets about her and Angel?"

"She must have a reason. She always has a reason." Connor gets up and walks to the door.

"Wait!" Cordy grabs his arm.

"Why? You're safe." He removes her hand from his arms and leaves. She tries to follow, but he's much faster. After losing him, she rushes to Angel's.

"Relax Cordy. He couldn't have gone that far."

"Dead people are speaking to him. This is not good."

"How does he even know what she looks like?," Fred inquires.

"He could have seen her in dreams," Wesley proposes. "It's not out entirely surprising that a child of supernatural origin could have supernatural dreams."

"So she was his security blanket in Quor Toth," Cordy concedes. "That doesn't explain how she could give him the skinny on post-conception conversations."

"You figure that's the sorta thing a mother doesn't want her son to know about," Gunn quips. No one likes to hear a parent talk about sex.

"Unless Darla's been sent up from Hell to turn Connor against you. Again."

"Darla is not in Hell!," Angel snaps at Cordy. "Again."

"It could be an apparition spell, conjured by someone who wants to do you harm," Wes theorizes.

"Lindsey."

"Angel, why does it always have to be Lindsey?," Cordy asks.

"Whoever it is, whatever's going on, I'll find him. Once it gets dark."

"And until then?," Cordy wonders. "When he left, he had this look in his eyes, like he was a man on a mission."

"Maybe he was just going out for groceries. Cordy, go back to his place, in case he returns. In the mean time you guy's shouldn't worry. This is between Connor and me. And no one else."

"Use the tunnels. Come back with me." Cordy wants to be with Angel. A welcome change of heart. Angel eagerly obliges. Maybe his presence will calm her down. But it doesn't. She looks all over the room for clues about what Connor might be planning. She finds her yearbook next to the bed, and remembers seeing him look at it. She starts to flip through the pages. "Angel. Angel you need to see this."

"Something wrong?"

"Yes. You were. It's not just between father and son." She shows him Buffy's Senior Picture, with at least six knife thrusts through the face.

NEXT: Spike against Buffy. Connor against Spike. Dawn against Spike. Buffy against Connor. Dawn's best friends against Connor. Plus Angel, Cordy, Wood and other assorted characters. Let's just say things get complicated.


	12. Why are you sitting on top of evil?

While Angel rushes to Sunnydale, and Buffy's suspicions about Spike grow, Connor bonds with Principal Wood

"Buffy is going to kill him."

"No she's not."

"You think he can take her?," Cordy asks with a smile that alarms Angel.

"My son is not a killer."

"But he is a fighter. And Buffy fights to the death."

"Buffy would never kill a human being."

"Assuming she knows Connor's a human being. She might not figure it out until the stake's gone through his heart." Angel can hardly bare to think about this. What makes it even worse is that it seems so likely.

"Connor's never even left LA. He'd have an easier time finding his way to Quor Toth than Sunnydale."

"The scary thing is, he'd probably be safer in Quor Toth. We need to get to Sunnydale and find Connor before he finds Buffy."

"We're not going to Sunnydale. And he'd never try to hurt Buffy. What's she ever done to him?"

"What did you ever do to him? Someone's manipulating him. Just like before."

"I need to talk to him."

"Great insight there."

"Once the sun sets, I'll track him."

"Could be too late by then."

"What choice do I have?"

"Go to Sunnydale right now and head him off."

"What if he doesn't go there?"

"Then we luck out. Besides, there are other targets of interest. Spike, for one."

"Spike's not the one who told him those things. He couldn't have been."

"Spike shows up, and pretty soon Connor's hopping mad for a whole heap of new reasons." She shows him the mutilated yearbook picture of Buffy. "This is Spike's doing. He's trying to make Connor do what he's too much of a loser to do himself: kill Buffy."

"Connor's smarter than that. He'd never be manipulated by Spike."

"Unlike that evil genius Justine," Cordy scoffs.

"Since when would Connor become friends with a vampire?"

"Good point. Then again, Spike is a vampire who hates you. That could count for something."

"I know my son. He'd kill Spike before Buffy."

"Sounds like a plan. For us." Angel looks like he's about to faint. "The first part, silly. We kill Spike. Which is a good outcome in any scenario. Then we grab Connor, talk some sense into him, and take him home before he ever meets Buffy."

"Interesting plan. But what if you're wrong, and Connor never goes to Sunnydale?"

"Spike still dies. Like I said, win-win."

"But what about that thing Lorne said about him having a soul?" Cordy laughs.

"Even with a soul, Spike's no champion. He goes from being a menace to society to a waste of space. And who's to say he's not still killing? Did he act like a good guy when we saw him?"

"No. He encouraged me to kill all of you, then sucker-punched me in the kitchen before leaving with Connor."

"We'll be doing Sunnydale, and the world, a huge favor. Who's gonna miss him? Who's gonna stop us?"

Buffy marches into Xander's apartment. "He's still asleep," Xander informs her. Buffy opens the door. Spike shoots out of bed, naked. Buffy turns away. Spike covers his lower half.

"You didn't use to be so bashful." She punches him in the face. "Now that's more like it."

"Do you remember the names of any of the girls you talked' to last night?"

"Why? I didn't do anything with them, if that's what you're worried about."

"It's not. I'm worried about what you did TO them."

"If I were killing again, do you think I'd return night after night to Xander's place, lying in wait just in case you want to stake me during the day? Think about it, Buffy."

"Do you know a girl named Janice?" Spike looks confused.

"You mean Dawn's old friend?"

"She's missing."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"How about Kit? Or Meghan? Or Laura? Or Vanessa? They're all missing. Them, and many more."

"And you think I killed them? Go ahead. Stake me if it'll make you sleep better at night." He holds his arms out, letting go of the sheet. Buffy turns away again. "Can't stand to look at me? A stake through the heart will take care of that."

"Stop it."

"If you really thought I wus killing, you'd do away with me. But you can't. You know wut that tells me?"

"No. And I don't care." Buffy walks out.

"What happened?"

"Don't let Spike out."

"You could help with that, you know."

"If it's someone else who's killing those girls, I have to be out on the street to catch them."

Once it's dark out, Angel quickly follows his son's scent to the bus station. "What did I tell you?," Cordy reminds him. They both race inside. Cordelia asks the guy behind the counter a few questions before running back to Angel.

"A bus to Sunnydale left forty minutes ago." Angel gets worried. For the first time, he seriously believes Connor's going after Buffy. "I hope he's not riding on top of it."

Nope. Connor bought a one-way ticket. He takes a window seat, and looks at the scenery as the sun slowly sets. Angel and Cordy are in hot pursuit. As he drives, Angel talks with Wesley on the phone. "You're sure that's where he went?"

"Wesley, add up the evidence."

"I suppose. It's still hard to believe. What possible grievance could Connor have against her?"

"From what he told Cordy, I think Connor's always had a strong attachment to his mother."

"Even when he saw Holtz as his father?" Darla and Holtz - there's one scary odd couple.

"She was already dead. Holtz had no reason to vilify her. And the less he said she did, the more crimes he could heap on me."

"He couldn't have ever said anything nice about her."

"He didn't need to. Connor knows who he came out of."

"Which makes Buffy into a sort of wicked stepmother. I needn't tell you how bizarre, and disturbing, that is."

"The two most important women in Connor's life are Darla and Cordy. Neither of whom Buffy holds in high esteem."

"Wait," Cordy interjects. "You don't think I'm to blame for this? I never said one word to Connor about Buffy."

"I already told the others," Angel reports.

"Then why tell me?"

"You're the only one who knows Buffy. If they have any questions - "

"I'll be sure to debrief Fred. And also answer any question Charles or Lorne have as well." Angel hangs up.

"How did this happen?"

"He locks you in a box for three months, and now you start asking questions. Hey, would he have a similar plan for Buffy?"

"She's human."

"Again, he might not know that. Do we even know if Connor knows what Slayers are?"

"Fred took away his taser, right?"

But the night is still young, and Connor's curious about this Mouth of Hell thingy. He can feel the energy intensify the closer he gets to the high school. Connor's never been in a school before. He looks into the classrooms as he walks down the hall. When Connor get to the source, he looks into Principal Wood's office. He figures this guy is some sort of gatekeeper. Robin hears the door open and close, and looks up to see who's there. He sees no one in front of him. "Over here." Wood turns in his chair and gasps. But then he looks behind Connor, and sees his reflection in the window. Wood stands up and catches his breath.

"Can I help you?"

"What's your job?" That seemed like an odd question.

"I'm the principal."

"What's that?" Connor knows what principles are, and can't quite comprehend how this man could be one.

"I run the school. Which, I'm guessing, you don't attend."

"I never went to school."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's the least of my problems." That wasn't reassuring. "Why are you sitting on top of evil?"

"You know about the Hellmouth?"

"I know it's right beneath us." Okay then. So this boy is either evil or good. Wood's still leaning towards evil.

"Were you sent here to help?" Connor smiles.

"I guess. I came to kill demons." Robin lets out a small sigh of relief. Connor smiles. "Did you think I was one?"

"No. No. Of course not."

"Don't worry. I get that a lot."

"You're rather young for a demon fighter."

"I've been hunting them my whole life."

"Me too. Well, the actual hunting's only been for the last decade or so."

"That means I have more experience." Robin laughs, but notices that Connor doesn't look like he's joking. This a strange, scary boy.

"My name's Robin Wood." Connor shakes his hand.

"I'm Connor."

"I get it. Keeping your anonymity."

"No. That's my whole name."

"Okay then."

"Wanna help me kill vampires?"

"Sure. But, it's a little early. They usually don't come out in force until around nine. Maybe we could train. I could teach a few moves."

"No you couldn't."

"The vampires around here are pretty tough."

"I've fought tougher."

"I admire the eagerness. But you always have to play it safe. How bout you show me what you can do." Connor smirks. Now for the fun part.

They're in the gym. "I'll try to go easy on you," Connor assures Wood. This is a funny kid. Wood tries to sweep his legs. Connor leaps in the air and hits Robin in the left shoulder with a right hook kick. He tumbles to the ground.

"No bad," he concedes, rubbing his shoulder.

"I'm not sure you're tough enough for me to take along. Wouldn't want you to get hurt." Now the boy was clearly baiting him. Wood sends a left jab for Connor's stomach, which he blocks, then a right uppercut, which he also blocks. Connor deflects a right kick and pushes his right hand against Robin's chest, knocking him on his butt, which slides for ten feet along the gym floor. Robin starts to put everything together. This is no ordinary boy. Connor is some sort of champion, sent to aide him and Buffy. Wood smiles and goes on the attack, no longer holding back. Connor blocks jabs, crosses and hooks meant for his face, ducks a right roundhouse kick, swerves his head out of the path of a straight left kick, and kicks Wood in the stomach, sending him flying through the air. Connor rushes over. "Are you okay?"

"Great," Wood says as he stands up. "You're a very gifted young man." Connor smiles. Back in LA, everyone either takes his gifts for granted or sees him as a freak. "Can you touch that rim?"

"With what?"

"You hands." Connor laughs.

"You're serious?" Wood nods. Connor runs off, leaps from the three point arc at the top of the key and grabs on, his legs swinging back and forth from the momentum. He laughs and leaps back to the ground. "That was fun." He wanted to play ball over the summer, but Gunn wouldn't let him, since he'd attract way too much attention, and possibly knock someone unconscious if they elbowed or otherwise fouled him during the game. Wood just stares at Connor with astonishment. He's seen that look before. In Holtz's eyes.


	13. Buffy has her revenge on Connor

Connor and Wood walk down the street.

"Have you ever had any training?," Robin asks.

"My father taught me about vampires. I mean, my, ugh, the guy who raised me. He was a vampire hunter. Before I was born."

"Mine too," Wood responds with a smile.

"Your dad?"

"The man who raised me."

"Was he . . . English?" Robin's eyes open wide in astonishment.

"Yes. Yours?"

"Uh-huh."

"Was he a Watcher?"

"He'd watch me fight."

"I mean, was he affiliated with the Watcher's Council?"

"No. He never mentioned anything like that. I think he worked on his own. Like you."

"I don't plan to always work alone. There's someone I'd like you to meet. Later. Not now. She hasn't actually met the real me yet." Good news for Connor, since being "introduced" to Buffy would be awkward, to put it mildly.

"I don't live here. Just thought you should know that."

"Lucky you. It's smart to live away from the Hellmouth."

"Things are pretty tough in Los Angeles. Hellmouth or not."

"Los Angeles. That's a long way to travel."

"I have my reasons." Best not to go into those. "You should call me if you need help. Wait. I don't have a phone."

"Is there any way I could leave a message? With someone you know who does have a phone. Because with what's about to go down here, we all the help we can get."

"Ask around. People tend to remember me." Wood opens a door. "This where you live?"

"No. But it's a good place to train. Or to, retreat. If things get tough." Connor peers his head in. His jaw drops and his eyes bulge.

"Wow," he says with a smile as he walks around and looks at all the crosses on the walls. "It's beautiful. I wish my father could be here to see it." Either one. Holtz would love it. And Angel would be in such pain. Connor considers doing something similar to his place. But one vampire at a time. "I gotta get to work."

"Good luck."

"If things go right, I won't need it." Connor leaves. Wood looks at him and smiles. He really likes this lad. If only he knew Connor was trying to slay the vampire who killed his mother. Then Wood might love him.

Mommy directs Connor to Xander's apartment. Why the First wants Connor to intercept him here is not readily apparent. Connor sneaks into the building and slowly creeps up the stairs. When he reaches Xander's door, he hears a punch. It's Spike knocking Xander out. Spike opens the door, and gets clocked by a right hook. "Connor! How's Sunnydale treating you?" Connor lands a left uppercut to Spike's stomach and a right hook to his ribs. "What's the matter? Isn't it Kill Angel Night?" Connor lands a left jab to Spike's nose. "I'm trying to do good."

"Liar." He tries a right hook. Spike blocks it and pushes Connor down half a flight of stairs. Connor stands up on the landing and leaps up towards Spike, who sends him back down with a right kick to the chest. Spike hops down to Connor's level and takes a right hook. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out handcuffs.

"Where'd I get these? And what have I been doing at night?" He ducks under a left hook, slaps the cuffs on Connor's left wrist and ties it to the railing. "You don't understand. You're out of you depth on this one, boy." With that, Spike goes down the stairs, leaving Connor behind. He struggles mightily, and after thirty seconds breaks the chain and frees himself. He immediately runs into Xander's apartment and finds a man passed out on the floor.

"Wake up. Wake up." He lightly slaps Xander's face twice. Then a hard slap with his left hand. This does the trick.

"Ow!! Who are you?"

"Did he bite you?"

Xander checks his neck. "No. Who are you?"

"You need ice." Connor finds the kitchen, gets the ice, wraps a towel around it and puts it to the bruise Spike's punch made. "He's gone. I tried to kill him, but he tied me up."

"Hey. Those are my cuffs. Which I used for entirely, wholesome purposes." Connor doesn't quite get what he's getting at. "How did you break free? Those are strong cuffs."

"I'm stronger. Did you invite him in?"

"Last week. It's a long story."

"Here. Sit down." Connor helps Xander to his couch. "You're safe. I'll find him, and I'll kill him."

"Kill? Oh, what the Hell. Knock yourself out. Or, rather, knock him out." Xander stands up. "Hold on. Let me get the key." He undoes the cuff on Connor's left wrist. "Who are you?," he asks for a third time.

"I save people from vampires."

"We already have one of those here. Eh, the more the merrier." He sits back down, too confused about Spike to inquire about this strange new arrival, who mysteriously and suddenly left without Xander noticing. He picks up the phone, telling Buffy Spike knocked him out, but omitting any mention of the young man who came to his aide.

"Should we attack Buffy?," Cordy asks Angel, shocking him. They are a half-hour from Sunnydale.

"No! Why would you?"

"Say that by the time we get there, she's beating him up, and about to kill him. We'd have to restrain her."

"And Connor."

"But Connor would quickly realize she's human, and back off. Buffy, meanwhile, would just pour it on."

"No she wouldn't. She'd try to reason with him."

"And maybe discover the truth. Which, let's face it, won't make her happy."

"Connor is the aggressor here!"

"Fine. Take her side."

Connor tracks Spike to the Bronze, just as he calls Buffy from outside. Once Spike starts walking away, Connor follows. "Hello handsome," Connor hears from behind. He turns around and sees Janice in tight blue jeans and a white belly shirt. He glances back at Spike, then looks at Janice again. "Something on your mind, cutie?" Kill Spike . . . or get lucky. Kill Spike . . . or get lucky. Spike could wait.

"Hey. What's your name?"

"Janice."

"I'm Connor."

"Haven't seen you around, Connor."

"I'm new in town."

"What do you think?"

"It's weird. But I've lived in weirder." Janice laughs.

"Cute and funny." She walks towards him. Connor blushes. His heart races. "Let's go inside. You know, have a date."

"A date." Connor's never had that before. "Sounds like fun." But there was still a killer roaming the streets. "I have to take care of something. But I'll be right back. I promise. Please don't go anywhere."

"I won't," Janice says as she walks away. She turns round. "I'll be in the balcony. Watching. And waiting." Connor watches her walk away. He'd made a friend, gotten a date, and the night was still young. Maybe Sunnydale wasn't so bad after all. All he had to do was dust Spike, and his night would be complete.

Knowing Sunnydale, Cordy and Angel first hit the Bronze. "The town looks exactly the same," she points out.

"Except for the school, which has a ponderous, modernist brutalism."

"That, and it's right on top of the Hellmouth."

"He's been here."

"Ooh. Aimee Mann! Let's go in."

"He's gone." Angel runs away.

"You sure?" He tosses the keys to her.

"I'll go on foot. Wait in the car. I'll call if I spot him."

"You just want me to sit in a parked car like a loser?," she huffs before walking back to the vehicle. It doesn't occur to her than Angel's never let her drive before, so this must be important. And so begins the convergence.

As Buffy walks towards the abandoned house Spike told her to meet him at, Kit passes by. "Kit!"

"Hey Buffy."

"You - you weren't in school today."

"Played hooky. Hung out with friends in Santa Barbara. You're not gonna tell?"

"Just, be careful," Buffy offers before continuing on her way. She doesn't have time to deal with Kit, who laughs gleefully as she walks away from her first encounter (as a vampire) with the Slayer

Connor comes by a different path, so he never sees Kit. What he does see is his mother. "Listen to me, son."

"I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Spike and Buffy. They've joined forces. They're together."

"The succubi." Darla smiles. It's so gratifying to knew her boy hates the Slayer.

"She's protecting him. You have to be careful."

"Don't worry. I thought ahead."

"Uh-oh," Fred announces.

"What's wrong?," Gunn asks.

"The taser. It's gone."

"You kept it?"

"It's a useful weapon. And it was in a locked drawer in the office."

"Connor can pick locks?"

"Looks more like he jimmied it with a crowbar or sometin'."

"Evidently, Connor knows he's in for a tough fight," Wes theorizes.

"We need to call Angel. Remember what Connor did the last time?"

"You think he's gonna toss Angel back in the ocean?," Gunn asks. "Along with this Buffy girl?"

"He doesn't have a boat," Wes points out. "Unless Justine's working with him again. Which I'm sure isn't case, seeing how she deceived him the last time."

"I meant he's gonna knock Angel out before killing Buffy," Fred explains.

"Oh," Gunn responds.

"Of course," Wes adds.

"Maybe Cordy can talk him out it. He still trusts her, right?"

Buffy leads a dazed and weary Spike down the street. Suddenly, she shakes when hit with a powerful electric shock, and falls to the ground. Connor, who attacked her from behind, looks at Spike, grins, knocks him down with a right hook and puts away the taser in his left hand. "What the bloody hell," Spike slurs.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?," he First Evil alter ego says, looking down at Spike.

"He's killed twelve girls," Darla reports to Connor. "Sired most of them, so they could kill even more." Buffy stands up and shakes off the shock. Connor hears her, grabs his weapon, reaches back and shocks her again. She goes down with a mighty groan. "He is killing, and she's defending him so he can keep on killing."

"Is someone else there?," Spike asks as he climbs to his feet and senses a second hologram, though he can't see it. Connor nails him in the face with a left hook, then a right kick to the mouth.

"Don't let me down, son."

"I won't, mom."

"Mom?," Spike asks. And then it hits him. He ducks a right hook, blocks a left cross and grabs Connor's arms. "Someone is trying to trick you." Connor growls and throws Spike to his left.

"Everyone is trying to trick me! Including you." He runs over and kicks Spike twice in the ribs with his right foot. When he tries a left kick to Spike's head, Spike grabs Connor's foot. He does a back flip, and Spike stands up. Meanwhile, Buffy slowly recovers from her taserings and walks towards Connor, who drives Spike back into the wall. Spike pushes him away, then blocks a right hook. Connor ducks Spike's right hook and hits him in the chest with a left jab, followed by a right roundhouse kick to the head, followed by a right back flip kick. Spike slumps down, but Buffy grabs Connor's right arm. He knocks her away with a left cross to the face and runs at Spike, a stake now in his right hand. Before Spike can stand, Connor lands two left hooks and reaches his stake back. But as he stabs it forward, Buffy grabs his right arm and throws Connor to Spike's left, back down the street. He quickly gets up and charges as she calmy approaches, preempting his attack with a left hook kick. Connor stands and takes his taser in his left hand. Buffy backs away from his taser jab and knocks the weapon out of his hand with a right kick, followed by a left to his body, followed by a right roundhouse kick to the head. He goes down, and she stomps the taser to smithereens.

"Oh, I am going to enjoy this," Buffy tells Connor. She blocks his right hook and lands a right jab to his nose. She ducks his left hook and sends a left uppercut into his chin. She blocks a right hook kick, left jab and right hook before grabbing Connor and throwing him into the wall to her right. His body smashes into the concrete and plops on the asphalt. Connor stands, his nose bloodied, his lip swollen, his body bruised. "You just don't know when to give up." Buffy lands two left hooks to the face. Connor staggers back and awaits her next attack. When she approaches, he does a cartwheel to his right, climbs up the wall and spins round to try a leaping right hook kick. Buffy grabs his ankle and spins his body round, slamming his back into the pavement. "Had enough?" Connor slowly stands up, steadies himself, scowls at Buffy and runs away. She returns to Spike. "Are you all right?"

"It's not his fault." Buffy ignores that.

"We need to get you home."

"I have no home."

"You do now."

Angel arrives to the scene about two minutes later and calls Cordy. No sooner does he get off the phone with her than Fred calls him. "The taser." He looks at the broken electronics on the ground. "I think that's taken care of." He hangs up. When Cordy drives up, she finds Angel looking very nervous. "He was here. His scent's fresh. So is Buffy's. And Spike's."

"Oh God. They double-teamed him."

"We can't be sure. Spike's the one who coaxed Connor into coming here."

"I don't see any dust. Which means they didn't double-team Spike." Angel looks at a spot on the ground. "What is it?"

"My son's blood."

"Buffy hurt him," Cordy declares with anger.

"We don't know that. It could have been Spike. Anyway, they left in different directions. Buffy and Spike went east. Which is toward her house."

"Ewww. She's living with him?"

"Connor headed south. Back towards downtown."

"He's hurt, and bleeding, and all alone. Poor guy. We have to find him – before the demons do."


	14. Angel and Buffy do some catching up

Connor prowls the dark streets of Sunnydale, feeling like a stranger in a strange town. He could not kill Spike because Buffy was protecting him, and he could not kill Buffy without the element of surprise, which he had squandered by letting her live the previous night. Where to go now? What to do? Surely he couldn't slouch back to Los Angeles in defeat. Maybe he could enlist the help of Robin Wood. Maybe he could kill the vampires Spike made. Surely they were also prowling the streets. Perhaps even hunting him. Connor stops, sensing he is being followed. He takes out his stake, turns around and prepares to stake . . . "Dad!?" Angel quickly backs up.

"Connor."

"What are you doing here?," Connor angrily asks.

"What am I doing here? What am I doing here?" Connor was the obvious odd man out.

"It's okay, Connor," Cordy says, catching up with Angel.

"Why are you with HIM?"

"You shouldn't be here," Cordy tells him. "You're involved in stuff you don't understand."

You know he's only here for Buffy," Connor tells Cordy.

"I came here to protect you."

"I can protect myself."

"Who hurt you? Who gave you those bruises? Was it Spike?" Connor laughs ruefully.

"It was the succubi."

"I told you Buffy would attack him," Cordy says to Angel. She kinda likes the new nickname for Buffy.

"Why were you fighting Buffy?," Angel asks.

"She was protecting Spike." This Angel did not expect. "He's killed like a dozen people. I tried to put a stop to it. I was going to stake him. That's when Buffy attacked me. She fought me to save that murderer." This was certainly disconcerting for Angel.

"She must have her reasons," Angel offers dejectedly.

"He's got something she wants. Take a guess what that is." Angel looks stunned. Cordy looks nauseous. She never thought much of Buffy, but she thought enough of her to assume she'd never stoop that low.

"What are you basing this on?," Angel pointedly inquires.

"Spike told me."

"As if he's trustworthy."

"He said they do it next to dumpsters, on her front lawn, in the cemeteries, in abandoned houses, underneath abandoned houses - "

"Stop," Angel orders. "Why were you talking to Spike?"

"He's a vampire. He has a soul. He liked having me around." The implication, of course, is that Angel doesn't. How cruel for Connor to accuse Angel of driving him into the arms of Spike.

"I said you're welcome at the hotel anytime."

"After throwing me out and making me sleep on the ground."

"You tried to imprison me for all of eternity!!"

"Do you love me or do you hate me? Make up your damn mind, dad!"

"So you thought Spike was a good guy?," Cordy asks, trying to bring them back on topic. Connor has had trouble in the past figuring out who the good guys were.

"I thought he was good and Buffy was bad."

"Why would you think that?," Angel asks, utterly perplexed.

"She hates Cordy. That's all I needed to know."

"I wouldn't say Buffy hates me. Hate is a strong word. "

"She doesn't like you."

"There's a lot of ground in between. Connor, life's not black-and-white."

"But now you know Spike lied to you," Angel points out. "He's evil. He tried to use you."

"I know. They're both evil." Angel's at his wit's end.

"If they're allies, why did he turn you against her?"

"If they're not allies, why did she protect him?"

"He's got a point," Cordy notes, upsetting Angel. "You both do."

"They're completely contradictory," Angel tells her. "We can't both be right." Angel begins to wonder about Connor's sources. "How do you know Spike's been killing?"

"Go ask him. Ask Buffy." Connor takes a small cross out of his pocket and tosses it in Angel's face. Angel whacks it away and grimaces, giving Connor a second or two head start, which is all he needs to disappear. Cordy grabs Angel to hold him back.

"No."

"I'm not letting him get away again."

"You can track him down later."

"Later? He's the reason we came here!"

"Things change. I think you need to have a talk with Buffy." Cordy, of course, has her own reasons for this. The further Angel feels from Buffy, the closer her feels to Cordy. And Spike looks like the perfect blonde wedge to do the trick. For his part, Angel can't let Connor's vicious allegations go unanswered, especially because, if they are true, Buffy has clearly lost her mind.

At the Summers residence, Anya, Xander and Willow sit along the long end of the wooden table with their backs to the kitchen. Dawn stands at the far end with her arms folded. Buffy stands across from her friends and in front of the door leading to the hallway and living room. In the living room, Spike sits in a chair, bundled up in a blanket, facing the fireplace. "Buffy, I'm all for moving the murderer out of my apartment," Xander concedes. "But moving him into your house?"

"I have to keep an eye on him."

"And possibly a ball-and-chain."

"He kills my friends, and he gets to live here?"

"Dawny we don't know if Spike's responsible for that. We don't even know if Kit and Janice are dead."

"So you're sure you didn't stake them?"

"Pretty sure. I didn't recognize anyone I staked."

"That's good to know," Dawn replies angrily before ducking into the kitchen, from where she sneaks into the living room behind Buffy's back.

"I have a bad feeling about all this," Willow confesses.

"Spike was much less dangerous when he was soulless," Anya blurts out, to no response. "Apparently I'm the only one who can see the irony in that."

"Hello Spike." He keeps looking straight ahead. Dawn reaches her right hand into his left front pants pocket, pulling out his lighter. "Remember what I said to you before?" She flicks the lighter on and waves the flame in front of Spike's face. Buffy hears Dawn's voice, turns around, and races into the the living room.

"Dawn, what are you doing!?"

"Nothing." She closes the lighter, puts her hands behind her back and backs up towards the couch. "Just having a friendly conversation."

"I know you're upset, I know you're hurting, but we need Spike."

"And I don't need friends?"

"I'm sorry. But nothing you can do is going to bring them back."

"And if it were Xander, you'd be saying the same thing?"

"Dawn, that's not the point."

"Answer me! Would you invite Spike into your home if he killed Xander? Go ahead. Tell Xander he's expendable. Just like my best friend."

"Dawn, you're not helping," Xander pleads. Dawn stalks out of the room and walks up the first stair in the hallway when there's a knock at the door. She turns around. "Oh, I wonder who that could be? More killers looking to be coddled?" She opens the door. "Angel?" Buffy darts over. Her jaw drops.

"Hi Buffy," Cordy says with a smile. "And you at you, Dawn. All grown up. And real!"

"What are you doing here?," Buffy asks.

"It's been a while. Nice to see you, too."

"That's why I asked. You're not in the habit of paying me surprise visits. Not lately, anyway."

"Can I come in?"

"You've already been invited," she replies. Angel enters, followed by Cordelia. Xander, Willow and Anya stand at the edge of the living room in shock.

"Is Spike here?," Cordy asks.

"Why?," Dawn asks. "You wanna help me set him on fire?"

"Dawn, that's a horrible idea," Angel declares. "It could burn down the whole house. There are less messy ways to kill a vampire."

"No one is killing anyone in here," Buffy vows. Dawn runs up to her room.

"It must be fun having a vampire around who isn't Cursed," Cordy taunts. Buffy slaps her face with her right hand. Angel hits Buffy with the back of his right hand. Buffy angrily glares at him. Cordy smiles as she touches her face with her left hand.

"Feels like that one really hit home." Cordy switches to looking depressed. "Buffy, how could you sink so low?" She backs up behind Angel in anticipation of another attack.

"I'm not here to talk about that," Angel promises. "If there is a that, I'd rather not know about it." Spike starts chuckling. Angel can hear him.

"I'm not sleeping with Spike," Buffy assures him in the present tense.

"But you're letting him kill?"

"Spike is my problem. You have no say in what happens with him. You want to make yourself useful? Take care of that vampire you sired who attacked me last night."

"Vampire?" Angel takes a long pause and gulps. "What was this vampire's' name?"

"Connor. Ring a bell?"

"You're mistaking humans for vampires?," Cordy asks, astonished by Buffy's mistake. "Shouldn't a Slayer know better? Especially one with your experience?"

"That thing that attacked me was not human." Angel's getting very nervous, but he's unable to put a stop to the conversation before it gets really explosive.

"For your information, Connor is Angel's son," Cordy explains. Buffy looks at Cordelia as if she's damaged.

"Vampires can't have children," she replies condescendingly. "Besides, I don't remember mommy' mentioning a pre-teen son before Angel staked her."

"He wus born last year," Spike says, rocking up and down and not turning around to look at the people he's talking to. "Darla wus brought back and revamped by Dru she was. Boy grew up in Quor Toth. Grew up fast, he did. Such fiery memories seared into their heads. None of it real. They don't know. But I do."

"That's insane," Anya declares.

"You're right," Cordy responds. "He's real."

"A real human, growing in Quor Toth? Even demons are afraid of that place. The only way he could have survived is of he was raised by demons. Which would be too ridiculous even for fake memories."

"Good point," Buffy says. "If he's so real, who raised him?" Angel takes a few seconds to respond.

"My time-traveling arch-nemesis from two centuries ago." Xander laughs.

"You people believed all this? You didn't think that, maybe, just maybe, it was, umm, a little unbelievable?"

"Look who's talking," Cordy retorts. "You raised Buffy from the dead like, five months after she died. Talk about unbelievable."

"You believe this?," Buffy asks Angel.

"Believe it? It's my life."

"What about your Curse? How could you have sex? WHY would you have sex with an evil vampire you killed?"

"Does she have parental rights?," Willow wonders. "I'm just asking."

"Vampires can't give birth," Cordy replies. "Everyone knows that." Everyone also knows they can't get pregnant.

"She staked herself so he could be born," Angel explains.

"Killing her off when her job was done," Anya notes. "How convenient."

"Why would someone send you an evil son?," Xander asks. "Can he destroy the world?"

"Connor is not evil. And he was born. Not invented. I'm sorry he attacked you."

"Did he hurt you?," Cordy enquires. "Because you seem pretty pissed. Which probably means he did."

"He blindsided me, tied me up for several hours, hit me, threatened to kill me, and made me listen to his inane rants."

"You were at his mercy?," Cordy asks, trying to conceal her smile. "How many people, or even demons, can say they did that to you?"

"Why didn't he kill you?," Angel asks. "If Connor was evil, wouldn't he have killed you?"

"The truly twisted psychos like to take their time."

"My son is not psychotic." Hearing him say "my son" is surreal for Buffy. She keeps telling herself he's not real. "He's never killed anyone. Now Spike, from what I've heard, has the blood of dead girls still warm in his belly."

"That's not your concern."

"It wasn't, until two nights ago, when Spike came to Los Angeles and tried to kill my friends." Buffy turns around. Spike's gone. She didn't hear the back door close, so she rushes to the basement, where she sees him on the floor.

"Here she is, Miss America," he slowly sings in a hushed voice.

"Why did you go after Angel?"

"I went to talk. Things weren't like I expected. Angel was Liam. Everyone was dodgy. Except for the man in green." She goes upstairs, deciding that Spike's incoherent.

"Did he hurt anyone?," she asks Angel.

"Thankfully, no."

"Did he try?"

"Actually, no," Cordy responds. "But he didn't try to stop Angel from killing me." Everyone looks confused. "Don't ask."

"Then you have no business with Spike. While you're here, you may wanna round up your son' and make sure he doesn't come back. Because if he does, I may have to kill him."

"Nobody's killing Connor," Angel replies, not indicating if he means Connor will never come back, Connor will never attack Buffy, Angel will prevent Buffy from killing Connor even if he does attack her, or Angel doubts Buffy has the strength or the will to kill something non-demon. Angel and Cordy walk to the door. When he reaches it, Angel looks back. "If it makes you feel any better, he's tried to kill me. Multiple times." They leave.

"At least he has some redeeming qualities," Xander jokes. Willow and Buffy do not look amused. "What? Only Anya gets to make inappropriate funnies?"

"I think you should speak to Dawn," Willow suggests to Buffy. "Spike's hurt her more than any of us." Buffy decides Willow is right and heads upstairs. A few seconds later, she runs downstairs.

"Dawn's not in her room."

Now that Spike was in, Dawn had to get out. It was such an insult to her dignity and her feelings, neither of which seemed to matter to her older sister. Dawn heads by default to the Bronze. But three blocks away, she's met by Kit. "Hey girlfriend."

"Kit. Y-y-you're here."

"Where else should I be?"


	15. Killing Your Friends

"Gotta say, Dawny, I am a little jealous of you. All that time you got to spend with Spike. He's a charming guy. As if being a total babe wasn't enough."

"He changed you," Dawn says with her angry, guttural voice.

"And now you're jealous of me. Still the only one without power. That's gotta suck." Dawn glances to her left and right. "Looking for something to stake me with? Even if you had something, you still couldn't take me. We both know that." Kit puts her right hand around Dawn's throat and with her left hand rips off the crucifix hanging from her neck. Dawn kicks Kit in the stomach, which has no effect. Then she digs her nails into Kit's right forearm, causing her to let go. "Ow. That's no way to treat a friend," Kit says with a wicked smirk.

"Touch me again - "

"And what? Buffy will kill me? Or, we could all try to kill her together. Don't worry, Dawny. I don't wanna kill you. I wanna share my power with you. Maybe then you'll finally get respect." Dawn slaps Kit with her right hand. Kit laughs and goes bumpy. When she runs at Dawn, Dawn tries to throw her. But Kit hangs on, reverses the throw and hurls Dawn into a wall. "Don't you wish you could do that?" Dawn runs to her right. Kit cuts her off. "You know better than that. Dawn drives the heel of her right palm into Kit's nose, then runs the other way. Kit smarts from the blow before giving chase. She tackles the screaming Dawn and pins her down. "You're really making me rethink my options." Kit licks Kit blood from under her nose. "On the other hand, this chase is kinda fun." She holds Dawn's arms down as she struggles and her legs thrash. "We'll make a great team." Kit leans in to bite the right side of Dawn's neck.

"Help!!," she screams, seemingly in vain. But then, an instant after Kit's fangs pierce her skin, the ex-best friend disintegrates. Above her stands a scrawny teenage boy in a black short-sleeve t-shirt, a gray long-sleeve t-shirt and faded jeans, holding a stake in his right hand.

"You okay?," he asks, holding out his left hand. Dawn rolls over and cries uncontrollably. "It's okay. You're fine now."

"No I'm not," Dawn says in-between sobs as she slowly stands up, tears streaming down her face. "That was my best friend."

"You mean before she was a vampire?" Dawn does not appreciate the insensitive remark.

"Do I look like I like vampires?"

"Me neither." Connor stands to Dawn's right, both of them leaning against the wall.

"And the worst part is, the bastard who did this to her is still out there. Safe."

"Do you mean Spike?" Dawn stops crying and looks surprised. She puts her right index and middle fingers to Connor's neck for a few seconds before pulling them back.

"Sorry. You never know."

"It's okay. I'm used to people treating me weird."

"How do you know Spike?"

"I tried to kill him."

"Is that how you got those bruises?"

"Yeah. He's got someone protecting him. Too bad your friend didn't." Dawn sees that as a welcome swipe at her sister for failing in her role as protector. She now knows this boy got beat up by Buffy (and he doesn't even have super powers – what a bully she is!). But she missed Angel's appearance, she wasn't told about what transpired last night, so in her mind Connor is a nearly-helpless innocent.

"What are you doing here? Not that I mean that in a, suspicious way."

"Trying to kill vampires."

"You killed one. Thanks. You kind of, no, you actually did, save my life."

"It's what I do."

"What?," Dawn asks with a chuckle.

"I fight. I kill. It's who I am." Okay, that was a little disconcerting.

"You kill . . . vampires?"

"Demons, too."

"Isn't that dangerous?," a shocked Dawn asks.

"Life's dangerous."

"Especially around here." On a roof of the building behind Connor, Janice watches and listens.

"I've been in worse places." Connor steps away from the wall, turns round and looks at Dawn. He takes off his t-shirt and hands it to her. "Here. Your face is all puffy."

"Thanks," Dawn replies sarcastically. Such a nice boy. Yet so insensitive. She wipes the tears from her cheeks. "You should get some of those bruises looked at. You mighta broke something."

"I don't break." Janice leaps off the roof, lands on Connor's back and wraps her arms around his chest, taking him completely by surprise.

"We'll see about that." Janice bites the left side of his neck. Connor's never been bitten before, so his initial sensation is terror. He tries to pull her arms off his chest, but she's got a pretty tight hold. Connor leaps fifteen feet back into a wall, hoping this will shake her loose. Dawn assumes it's the adrenaline. Connor fails to break free. Meanwhile, the loss of blood is weakening him. He drops the stake. Dawn rushes over and pulls the vampire's hair, causing Janice to finally let go. When she gets up, Dawn kicks her face with her left foot, sending Janice back two steps. "He talks tough, but he tastes so tender."

"Janice!?," Dawn asks with a look of shock and devastation.

"You wanna fight with me over him?," she asks, licking her lips. "Funny, we've always had different tastes in boys. Of course, this one tastes really good. Better than the first two guys I ate tonight. Damn! What are they feeding you!?" Connor slowly gets up off his knees. He looks down for his stake, but Dawn kneels and picks it up with her right hand, stepping in front of Connor.

"Janice. Don't make me - "

"As if you could! Don't make me waste my appetite on you. Let me have the main course, and I'll let you live."

"Go," Connor whispers from behind. "I can take her." Dawn reaches back, puts her left hand on his chest and pushes back the lightheaded Connor, who trips and falls down.

"If that's the way you want it, Dawny." Janice grins and leaps at Dawn, who sticks out her right arm and stakes the careless vampire through the heart. Dawn looks at the stake and starts crying again.

"Why are you crying? You killed a vampire." Connor always thought that was a happy thing.

"Janice. He got Janice."

"You knew her?"

"She was my best friend." Connor appears puzzled.

"You have two best friends?"

"Last year. At my old school. I met Kit in September. Janice and me, we, we grew apart, but still . . . " Her talking dissolves into sobbing. Connor picks up his black t-shirt and brings it over.

"Here."

"Thanks." Dawn blows her nose in it, which Connor doesn't seem to mind. She turns around. Connor's much paler than before, though his lips are still bright red. "You really should go to a doctor. I think you lost a lot of blood."

"I'll be okay. Thanks to you." They both smile awkwardly. Dawn reaches out with her left hand and wipes away some of the blood on his neck with his black shirt.

"Guess I owed you," she replies. They stand there in silence for a few seconds. Dawn drops the shirt and starts to faint, but her back hits the wall and she stays up. "I'm okay. It's just . . . the shock." Dawn sighs in resignation. "I don't know why I'm so surprised. Seems like everyone I care about gets taken away sooner of later."

"Me too."

"You've lost friends?"

"Never had any. But my mom died. She, killed herself. My father, I mean, my stepfather, he did the same thing."

"I'm sorry."

"Why? You had nothing to do with it." Dawn pauses.

"So you're all alone. What do you do? Ya know, to get by."

"Hunt. Scavenge. Just like I always have."

"I didn't know there were hunter-scavengers left in Southern California," Dawn weakly jokes. "What about school?"

"They didn't have those where I grew up."

"Where's that? Amish country?"

"Quor-Toth."

"Never heard of it. Is it in Alaska?" She figures his parents were burnt-out hippies who wanted to get back to nature. Of course, a flower child is the last thing anyone would accuse Holtz of being. Connor knows answering such questions will only invite more questions. He reaches his left hand out, grabs the stake in Dawn's right hand and tries to pull it way. But she hangs on, and their fingers touch.

"Can I have my stake back?"

"I think I should hang onto it until you're better." Their hands rock back-and-forth a few more times before he lets go. "I need to take you to a hospital."

"No you don't."

"You need blood."

"I can make my own." To Connor, the idea of having someone else's blood put into his body smacks of vampirism. And since he doesn't know about transfusions, he's guessing she wants to drink the blood.

"You're still pretty weak." She pushes Connor and he almost falls down.

"I'll feel better once I have something to eat. Is there any food around here?"

"There's a Store 24 about two blocks up." Right near the Bronze, it occurs to her. How horrible, to be considering that at a time like this, Dawn thinks. They start to walk. "You look a little shaky." She puts her left arm around his waist. He puts his right arm around her shoulder.

"You're right. It's better this way," he says with a smile. Dawn continues to feel guilty, as if she's exploiting Connor's situation.

"Usually I ask for a guy's name before I put my arms – arm – around him. Not that I've put my arms around a lotta guys."

"Connor."

"I'm Dawn."

"Dawn. The end of the darkness."

"And, also, my name," she replies bashfully. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital? If you're worried that they'll ask questions, they won't. This is Sunnydale. They're used to it."

"I can take care of myself. So you . . . you uh, fight demons a lot?"

"More than I'd like to. But it's not like a thing I do every night. Actually, that's the second vampire I ever staked."

"You looked like you knew what you were doing."

"Yeah. Looked. Appearances aren't reality. Whoa-whoa-whoa. You're not going into the store looking like this. They'll think you're a junkie. Let me get you something."

"I can handle it."

"I don't have any money on me. But give me what you have, tell me what you want - "

"Spend money? On food?" Connor laughs and walks into the store alone.

"Perfect. Just perfect." Now he's going to get himself caught for shoplifting. Connor goes from aisle to aisle, picking out things and glancing at the concave mirrors and security cameras. When the cashier busies himself with ringing up a paying customer's purchases, Connor slips into the storeroom and out the back door. The customer walks out the front door. The cashier could have sworn there was a young man in the store. He goes over to the side wall.

"Dawn. Hey Dawn!," he whispers. She sees him.

"What are you doing?"

"Come here." Now she was an accomplice. Connor sits and gulps down a liter of apple juice, two ding-dongs, a sno-ball and a twinkie in about fifteen seconds.

"On a health kick," she jokes.

"Want some?" He breaks his last twinkie in half.

"No thanks." Then she worries about appearing rude. "On second thought." She takes it. He eats the other half, and chases it with a bottle of grape soda. "First rule of shoplifting: don't hang around after." Connor finishes the soda and belches. Evidently no one taught him manners. That doesn't surprise her.

"Shop-what?"

"You know - what you just did. Stealing." She laughs and sits down to his left. "Is this what you call scavenging?"

"The food doesn't fight back. If it did, I'd call it hunting." Dawn laughs. He has such a quirky sense of humor.

"You're strange. I mean that in a good way. Who wants normal? Normal's boring."

"But it's easy, right? You get to rest. You get to be safe."

"No one's really safe." Dawn doesn't know what that means, but it sounds to her like it makes sense. Connor pulls out a package of bandages he lifted from the store. "Oh. Good. You got something for your – here, allow me." She puts the large square bandage over the large wound.

"Thanks." He tugs lightly on the bandage. Never wore a sticky one before." Dawn notices that Connor's color is returning awfully quickly. Also, the bruises Buffy gave him appear much smaller than they did just ten minutes ago.

"Your shirt," Dawn says, recalling that she dropped it.

"That's okay. I still got one on." Dawn finds herself thinking about Connor with no shirt on, which seems deeply inappropriate. How could she think of scoring at a time like this? And yet her eyes wander over to the marquis at the Bronze.


	16. A most scandalous slow dance

Connor and Dawn walk tentatively into the Bronze. "You want something to drink?," Dawn asks.

"No."

"You-ah, you ever been here before?"

"No." He looks around for threats. Dawn's running out of things to talk about, and fears she's losing his attention.

"So-ah, where you from?"

"Away."

"Oh." Dawn nods. There is more silence. The drummer returns to the stage and the crowd starts to cheer. Aimee Mann comes back for an encore. "You wanna dance?"

"To what?"

"I, I think they're about to play another song."

"I don't know how."

Dawn laughs. "What?"

"I've never - "

"There's nothing to it. Just follow me." She grabs his arm and pulls a reluctant Connor out onto the dance floor. She moves her hands toward his neck, and he instinctively leans back, since it looks like she's about to choke him. Then he relaxes and lets her put her arms around his neck. Dawn starts to rock back and forth. Connor, tentatively at first, puts his hands on her waist. She looks up into his eyes. "See. Nothing to it." He smiles and nods.

"I'm sorry about your friends. I tried to kill him. I'm sorry I couldn't."

"It's okay. Well, what happened to Kit and Janice, that's not okay. It's horrible."

"I know. I know how hard it is to lose someone you're close to."

"It's like someone up there wants me to be alone. Everyone I touch dies." Connor gets nervous. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to - "

"It's okay. I'm used to things wanting me dead." That wasn't reassuring. Dawn wonders what Connor means. Connor feels her slowly inching away. "I mean, you're not putting me in any more danger than I already am. And even if you were, it would be worth it."

"That's so sweet!"

"You're a really nice person. That's, rare." Dawn holds him tighter. Connor reciprocates. Dawn smiles and rests her head on his left shoulder as the band plays:

"You struck me dumb, like radium.

Like Peter Pan, or Superman.

You have come ... to save me.

Come on and save me ...

If you could save me,

From the ranks of the freaks,

Who suspect they could never love anyone."

Angel and Cordy rush into the Bronze. Angel frantically looks for his son. Cordy glances at the stage and is stunned. "Aimee Mann! What's she doing at this hellhole?"

"It's too crowded. I need a better view." They run up the stairs to the balcony.

As their bodies press together, Connor can feel Dawn's heart surging. "Are you okay?"

"Well, no. My two best friends just tried to kill me."

"Are you scared?" Given his life experience, Connor associates an elevated heart rate with the fight-or-flight reflex.

"Not with you around." Connor holds Dawn tighter and smiles. She's not hard and cold, like the rest of the world. She's soft, and warm, and nice. He could get used to this.

"There he is!," Cordy announces, pointing down towards Connor. "He's with a girl!" Angel smiles, proud of his son. They can only see Dawn's back. "I don't believe it. He couldn't have been here for more than half-an-hour, and already he's scored.

"That's my boy." Neither one of them are able to identify the girl as of yet.

"Look on the bright side," Cordy offers. "Connor may have turned Buffy into his mortal enemy, but at least he's over me."

"She looks like a pretty girl. Chip off the old block."

"Can we be a little less proud of him walking in your footsteps? Dads cheering on their son's conquests is kind of creepy and – Oh my God! Is that Dawn!?" Cordy gasps.

"What!? No. No. It can be. It, it . . . " Angel appears dejected as Dawn and Connor slowly rotate, giving him a good view of her face.

"I thought I'd seen that outfit somewhere else tonight."

"He's with Dawn. He's, he's, with . . . Dawn," Angel says, positively trembling.

"Chip off the old block all right." Angel doesn't appreciate the dark humor. In addition to recognizing the incestuous weirdness of it all, Cordy feels hurt that Connor dumped her for a Summers girl. "Maybe it's genetic. Hey! She's not even really Buffy's sister. That makes it a little less scary." Out of nowhere, Angel wonders if he became human and married Buffy, would Connor and Dawn be step-brother and step-sister? Or, would Dawn be his step-Aunt? He quickly banishes these unwelcome thoughts and wonders where they came from.

"We have to stop this," Angel declares.

"You mean before Buffy does? If I were her - "

"No. He already blames me for losing' you. This will completely alienate him from me." Cordy is shocked by the sudden about-face.

"And maybe save his life. Besides, this cannot work for ten thousand reasons. Better to nip it in the bud." Cordy doesn't understand why she feels an overpowering urge to prevent Connor from falling for another woman.

"Oh God. Look at him, Cordy. He's happy. I mean, he's, he's smiling. I've never seen him like this."

"Don't go soft and gooey on me now." Angel's deeply torn. He feels sick to his stomach. At the same time, he feels happy for Connor. And the happier Connor gets with Dawn, the sicker he'll feel. For the ever-suffering Angel, it seems perversely appropriate that what brings his son pleasure brings him despair.

"I can't do it. As much as it pains me. Doesn't he deserve - ?"

"One moment of pure happiness?"

"I didn't mean it like THAT. But a dance is . . . harmless."

"Angel, it's a slippery slope." He doesn't remember her ever using that term before. "First they're slow-dancing, then they're kissing, and the next thing you know, Buffy's driving Dawny to the clinic with Connor's severed head bouncing up and down in the trunk." That seemed excessively vulgar and catty, even by Cordelia's standards.

"Thank you." Dawn says to Connor.

"You saved me too."

"I mean, for everything after that. For being there. Sometimes I feel I'm completely alone in the universe, and no one even sees me."

"I know the feeling. You feel lost."

"Like no one really cares about your feelings."

"Exactly." The band's repeating the chorus at the end of the song:

"Come on and save me ...

Why don't you save me?

If you could save me,

From the ranks of the freaks,

Who suspect they could never love anyone."

Dawn tilts her head. Their lips move closer and closer together.

NEXT: Buffy joins the party


	17. How can he be good?

When Connor's and Dawn's lips are but a centimeter apart, Connor sees Buffy out of the corner of his right eye. She sees him, with Dawn, and her head looks like it's about to explode. She rushes towards the boy. Connor lets go of Dawn and dashes for the rear exit. To Dawn, it's like he disappeared into thin air. She sees the very pissed-off Buffy and grabs her. "Buffy! What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? What am I doing!?" She pushes Dawn aside and continues her pursuit. But when she gets outside, he's gone. She rushes back in.

"That worked out about as well as we could have hoped," Cordy says to Angel. The image of him watching Connor and Dawn almost kiss, and watching Buffy watch them almost kiss, is seared painfully into his brain. A photographic memory has it drawbacks. Buffy rushes back to Dawn.

"You have REALLY done it this time."

"Why do you have to drive away every boy I meet?," she whines.

"Not every boy. Just the ones who want to kill you, or put a spell on you, or tried to kill me!!"

"What are you talking about?" She drags Dawn out of the Bronze while Angel climbs up onto the roof and looks for Connor.

"Have you been paying attention the last two days? That boy you were dancing with knocked me unconscious and tied me up last night."

"That's impossible! Connor's gentle. And good. He saved my life! And you never told me about this."

"I told everybody."

"You mean Xander and Willow."

"And you."

"No."

"Well, didn't you hear me talking to Angel tonight?"

"No. I was up in my room because Spike had killed my two best friends. Who later on tried to kill me!"

"Because you snuck out! I think there's a lesson here." A furious Dawn slaps Buffy's face with her right hand.

"You have got to be the world's biggest hypocrite." After all, Buffy was sheltering the vampire who sired those girls. "Connor is the sweetest boy I've ever met. He would never hurt anyone. Unless he thought they were evil." Buffy's beyond furious that Dawn's playing Blame the Victim, even though Buffy just did it herself.

"What the hell has gotten into you?"

"Lately, it's been hard to figure out whose side you're really on. Or maybe I just feel that way because I'm not Spike. You're always on his side."

"This is not about him. This is about you sneaking out and meeting strange, psychotic boys."

"Connor is not psychotic. Okay, he's strange. But he's also - "

"Angel's son." Dawn can't even begin to fathom this.

"What!?"

Angel catches up with Connor about a half mile away. He grabs his son's right arm from behind. Connor spins and hits Angel's face with a left hook. "Sorry," Connor offers. It's the first time he ever apologized for striking his father. "I thought you were someone else."

"Let me guess: Dawn's attacked by two, maybe three, vampires. And you swoop on in and kill them, getting a little neck wound in the process."

"We saved each other. And how do you know her name? Are you moving in on HER as well? That's so typical." Now that was something to make Angel's stomach turn.

"I know her name because we've met. She's Buffy's sister."

Connor shakes his head and slowly backs away in anger. "You just can't take it. I find a girl who doesn't like you, and you still have to ruin it. You ruin everything!"

"I ruin everything? Who's fault is it that Buffy wants to kill you?" Frustrated by Angel's logic, Connor takes a few seconds to answer.

"Mom told me to."

"Which you didn't find odd?"

"She's always protected me." This raises far more questions than Angel wants to answer at the moment, so he shifts the focus away from Darla.

"Did Buffy attack you?"

"Of course!"

"Before you attacked her?"

"I didn't give her a chance."

"How would you have reacted if a complete stranger knocked you out and tied you up?" Connor is angered by his father's good sense.

"She hates Cordy. She hates Cordy! How good can she be?"

"So he's not really Angel's son," Dawn says to Buffy after she tried to explain Connor's background. "He can't be. But he thinks he is. And Angel thinks he is. Because they have fake memories." Dawn smiles.

"Oh God no," Buffy declares, putting her right hand to her forehead. It didn't occur to her that Dawn would react positively to the information. "Did I remind you that he tortured me, and liked it?"

"You forgave Spike. Why can't you forgive Connor? He didn't even kill anyone."

"Spike didn't know what he was doing. That little bastard did."

"Maybe you scared him."

"You're blaming me!?"

"I'm just saying, the boy I met tonight couldn't have done what you said he did without a real good reason."

"He's psychotic. How's that for a reason?"

"Then why didn't he, I don't know, cut off your ears, or rip out your fingernails?" Buffy cringes at Dawn's imagination. "He just made sure you wouldn't hurt anyone, and then he let you go. What's so psychotic about that?"

"You didn't see his face. You didn't see his eyes."

"Yes I did," Dawn replies with a big grin.

"You're starting to make me physically ill. By the way, I thought you were in mourning for your friends? Picking up strange boys seems an odd way to grieve." Dawn slaps Buffy's face with her left hand. This slap is stronger than the previous one.

"How dare you. You're the one who let them die!" Buffy tries to slap Dawn with her right hand but Dawn reaches across her body and grabs Buffy's right wrist with her right hand. Buffy yanks her arm away, steps back and turns around for a second before turning back.

"This boy has you acting crazy."

"THIS BOY saved my life! THIS BOY was nice to me when no one else cared about my feelings. THIS BOY made me feel special, THIS BOY made me feel important, and you drove him away." Dawn contemplates punching Buffy, decides against it, starts crying and runs away.

Cordelia shines the headlights of Angel's car on Connor and Angel. "There you two are. So Buffy didn't give chase?"

"She's got a killer vampire to mount." Angel punches Connor for disrespecting Buffy and for bringing up Spike in a way that makes Angel jealous. Connor smiles wickedly. "No wonder she likes Spike instead of you, dad. You're not evil enough for her."

"Sorry to get in the way of this very disturbing family spat, but can we get the heck out of the Hellmouth before more bad stuff happens?," Cordy requests.

"She's right, you know," Angel says to Connor while grabbing his arm. Connor shoves his dad away.

"I have to find Dawn. I can't let Buffy win."

"And I can't let you get yourself hurt," Angel replies, grabbing Connor from behind, lifting his son's feet off the ground and carrying the struggling lad to the car, plopping him in the middle of the front seat. Cordy puts her left hand to his right cheek to calm Connor down and induce him to stay put.

"It's for the best. You don't belong here."

"I don't belong anywhere."

Buffy arrives at home. "What happened?," Willow asks. "Dawn is really broken up."

"She's grieving," Buffy replies, preferring to keep Dawn's interaction with Connor a secret. "How's Spike been?"

"Quiet. Docile. Hasn't killed anyone in at least an hour," Willow darkly jokes, upsetting Buffy. She rushes over to him, but is cut off by Xander.

"By the way Buff, after Spike punched me out, this kid burst into my place and tried to help me out. He seemed really nice. He also seemed to be hunting Spike. I'm not sure if there's a connection between these two things - "

"Was his name Connor?," Buffy asks, about to explode.

"He didn't give a name. You mean the guy who thinks he's Angel's son? No. This boy looked and acted nothing like Angel. Like I said, he was really nice to me."

"Scrawny kid? Soft, unmanly face, dressed and groomed like a runaway?"

"I suppose. Wait. Oh no. You're not saying - "

"I think you already did."

"But he was good! The kid who put an ice bag to my face and made sure I was okay cannot be the monster who held you hostage in that gas station."

"Everyone thinks he's good but me. I'm the only one who sees the truth." Then she makes sure Spike's all right. Xander thinks Buffy's getting a little topsy-turvy in her assessment of good and evil.

"What could you see in her?," Connor asks Angel as he drives down the highway. "She's not that pretty. Mom was prettier. Cordy's way prettier. Don't you think Cordy's prettier than Buffy?," He asks Angel with Cordelia in the car.

"Connor, that's sweet," she interjects. "Sweet, but not helpful."

"I'm going back," Connor vows. "You can't stop me."

"I can try."

"Because you don't want me to be happy?"

"Because I don't want you to end up in a body cast."

"Since when did you care about whether I was safe? You're the one who threw me out on the street!"

"He loved you, and you dropped him to the bottom of the ocean," Cordy reminds Connor.

"Who's side are you on? Oh. Right. His."

"There are no sides, Connor. Just reality. It's time you face it," Angel offers.

"Yeah. Reality," he says with a smile. "Like how Dawn's not really Buffy's sister." Without quite knowing why, Cordelia starts to feel worried about him.

"Don't you think Dawn's a little too immature for you?," she asks, putting her left hand on Connor's right knee. Angel glances over, sees this, and starts to worry as well.


	18. From ubervamp to ubertramp

Connor looks out his window at the falling flaming rocks. "Is it like this everywhere?"

"No. Just here, I think," Cordelia responds.

"I wonder if Dawn's seeing the same thing." Cordy scowls. "Maybe Buffy's outside and she got hit." Cordy can't help but smile at that thought. But Connor's previous comment worries her. He had only spent a matter of minutes with her.

"You're not still hung up on little Dawny, are you, Connor?"

"What's hung up?"

"Do you feel about her the way you feel about me?" Connor thinks about this.

"I guess not." Cordy takes his shoulders and sits Connor down on his bed so she's standing right in front of him. "She's, you know, a girl. You're a woman." Cordy smiles angelically and puts her right hand to his left cheek.

"And tonight, you're going to become a man." Connor looks wide-eyed and stunned as she slowly leans forward, kisses Connor on the lips and falls on top of him.

The next morning, Connor is none-too-pleased with Cordy's conflicted response to their night together. "So you wish it hadn't happened?"

"I didn't say that."

"No. You wish it had, and then the Earth ended!"

"No Connor."

"You wish you were dead, so you didn't have to see me when you woke up!"

"That's ridiculous." Connor grabs a knife, pushes Cordy against the wall and puts the knife to her throat.

"Maybe I can give you what you want." Cordy's genuinely terrified now that Connor has that homicidal glint in his eye.

"Connor, put the knife down." He jabs it against her flesh without piercing the skin. She screams. "Please. Connor, I love you."

"Well you sure have a funny way of showing it." He walks away. Cordy breathes several huge sighs of relief. "You know he doesn't love you," Connor says before storming out.

Before the zombie-filled affair at Wolfram & Hart, Angel quizzed Cordy about the finger marks and scratches on her neck. She tried to claim it was the Beast, but Angel wasn't buying it. Afterwards, he takes Connor to his room at the Hyperion and confronts his badly-injured son. "I didn't hurt her. I could never - "

"Did you want more than she would give you?" Though he prays this isn't the case, Angel suspects his moody, violent son tried to force himself on her sometime after the clearly consentual relations he saw the night before.

"You're the one who wants what he can't get. Isn't that what this is about?" Angel grab Connor's throat.

"I don't want anyone doing this to her." He pushes Connor back, and his son falls on a couch against the wall and puts his hand to his throat.

"I want to make her happy. You just make her confused and miserable. You don't believe me? Tell her you don't love Buffy." Connor stands up and get in his father's face. Angel slaps him with the back of his right hand. Connor falls down. "Haven't I been through enough today?"

"You lay another hand on her - "

"What if she wants me to?," Connor asks with a devilish smirk. Angel gulps and tries to maintain his composure. He can't stand to have Cordy around at the moment. But he doesn't want to put her with a hormonally-charged, super-powered adolescent who has trouble taking no for an answer. But Cordy's a big girl, so he leaves it up to her. And, to Angel's relief and dismay, she chooses to go.

"I'm sorry," Connor says when they get home. "I didn't mean to scare you. I love you, Cordy." She hugs him. Connor starts kissing her neck, and she quickly backs away. Connor glares at her, and she appears frightened. "Am I a monster?"

"A monster? No! God, no. You're a miracle."

"The Beast is here because of me."

"That's not true."

"Everyone else thinks it. They're scared of me. Now you're scared of me."

"I'm not scared of you. I'm just, nervous. Not about you. About everything."

"You keep saying I'm like my father. He hurt people."

"He helps people."

"He did both. What if I do both? Sometimes I save people. Then I hurt Angel, and I lied to Fred and Gunn, made them feel bad. Hurt them, in a way. Now I hurt you."

"You did not hurt me. You were angry, but you held back. You did the right thing. Because that's what you do. That's who you are."

"I'm a killer. I like to kill. I'm really good at it."

"Demons. Connor, you kill demons."

"You're part demon. I tried to kill you. Some demons are good. Some people are bad."

"Connor, I don't know where you're going with this, but it's a dark place where you don't belong." Connor laughs.

"Dark places are exactly where I belong."

"You have to reach out to him," Cordy pleads to Angel the next day.

"I think you've already done plenty of that."

"He's in a real scary place right now."

"Well, you helped put him there."

"That has nothing to do with what we did." Angel stares at her. "Okay, maybe a little. But he needs you. And if you're too petty to see that - "

Angel hears the front door open and walks out of his office to see Gwen. She reports what she saw the previous night, they compare notes, and realize what could be happening. Angel heads off with Gwen to the desert to save the sun. Cordy thinks he's just being selfish and avoiding his real problems. After Manny is killed, Angel belatedly realizes Connor could be in danger. But just when the gang, plus Gwen, is about to head out the door, Buffy rushes in.

"Okay, look, I don't have much time, but I need to know what the First Evil said to that psycho pseudo-brat of yours. It's a matter of life and – whoa! Who's the uber-tramp?"

Cordelia smiles. "Uber-tramp. I can't believe I didn't think of that one."

"Let me guess," Gwen says. "Another one of Angel's exes?"

"Another? ANOTHER!?"

"I'm beginning to see that he has a type." Jealous, catty, controlling.

"Yeah, and it isn't rubber-clad comic book girl wannabes." Gwen takes off her left glove.

"Okay then. If that's how you want it. Let's play a quick game of You Show Me Yours And I'll Show You Mine." Cordy smiles. This can't help but go well for her. An alarmed Angel steps between the two women.

"Buffy, this is Gwen. She's helping us on a job."

"Oh, and they made out," Cordy adds.

Buffy looks shocked. "This is what you go for now?"

"Exactly how many women pretend they're dating you?," Gwen asks Angel.

"Can we please focus on the problem at hand," Wesley requests.

"Ya know, keepin' the sun shining," Fred adds.

"So this is what a Slayer looks like," Gunn notes. "She's gonna help us, right?" Against the Beast, they need all the help they can get.

"Is Spike still living with you?," Angel asks. "You really think it's safe to leave him alone, with Dawn and your friends?"

"Did you say Spike?," Gwen asks.


	19. Should have brought her rocket launcher

Buffy finds out about Gwen's past with Spike. Then she fights the Beast and gives Connor some payback for torturing her. Perhaps a little too much payback.

"You know Spike?," Buffy asks Gwen as everyone rushes outside.

"It's probably a different Spike," Angel adds. "Spike Jones. Spike Lee."

"Can we take a minute to remember why the hell we're out here and . . . where are my keys?," Gunn asks as he checks his pockets.

"Here. Allow me," Gwen says, putting her right palm to the lock and opening the doors electronically. Then she puts her index finger to the ignition and starts the car up.

"You're a witch?," Buffy asks in disbelief.

"No. Witches have talent," Cordy replies.

"Are you two like old friends from school?," Gwen asks Buffy and Cordy, who both look insulted.

"No, I was popular," Cordy responds. "She was a freak."

"Yeah right," Gwen says with a dismissive chuckle. "She looks more like a cheerleader to me."

"I understand if you ladies have some issues' that need resolving, but can we please postpone that to a time when the sun isn't in imminent danger of disappearing from the sky?," Wes suggests. Everyone quickly gets in, except Buffy, who's now confused about their little mission. Gunn drives, Cordy rides shotgun, Wes and Fred sit behind them, and Angel is in back with Buffy on his left and Gwen on his right.

"What are you talking about?," Buffy asks Wesley.

"The Beast is trying to blot out the sun," Cordy explains slowly and condescendingly. Buffy laughs.

"That's lame. I mean, that's like something those nerds would have thought of. And the Beast? I thought my Big Bad had a generic name." She laughs some more, assuming anything in LA would seem like child's play compared to the Hellmouth. Heck, she just killed a Turokh-han.

"Buffy, this is serious," Angel says.

"Sorry. I'm sure it is. To you. So I'll help you kill this Beasty thing."

"It's not that simple."

"It would be fair to say you have never faced anything like him," Wes argues.

"Okay, I get it. This is a serious deal."

"Serious like he can shove his fist through your chest. Angel, are you sure she can help?," Gwen asks. Buffy's about ready to explode. If Angel wasn't between them, she'd probably punch Gwen and then get shocked unconscious.

"Buffy's a Slayer."

"Do you know what that is?," Buffy asks condescendingly.

"Yeah. There've been what, hundreds of those?," she replies witheringly. "A Vampire Slayer. Guess that makes you a freak like me." Buffy clenches her right fist.

"She means that as a compliment," Angel assures Buffy.

"So what's the deal with you and Angel? I thought Slayers killed vampires."

"She makes exceptions," Cordy responds. "With Angel, it makes sense. With Spike - "

"How bout for a change you don't talk about things you know nothing about?," Buffy shoots back. Angel's nervous about being at the center of this three-way cat fight.

"We have other things to worry about right now," Angel cautions.

"How do you know Spike?," Cordy asks Gwen, looking for further proof of her trampiness.

"We're talking about the vampire with the white hair and the English accent, right?," Gwen makes sure, causing Buffy's jaw to drop.

"Did he attack you?," Angel asks Gwen.

"Sort of. I mean, I attacked him, he attacked me. Kind of like when we met."

"When was this?," Buffy asks.

"Couple years ago. No need to get possessive." Angel's hurt by the notion that Buffy would be "possessive" about Spike. Buffy knows that the last time Spike could have attacked Gwen was more than three years ago.

"And you were what - sixteen?"

"You're criticizing someone else for having sex with an older guy when she was just a teenager?," Cordy asks Buffy with a laugh.

"Eighteen. I caught him squatting in my building. There was some mutual misunderstanding. He tried to bite me. I tried to zap him. I think you know what happened next," she says to Angel. "What, you thought you were the only vampire I jump-started?"

"You slept with Spike?," Cordelia asks with a shudder.

"Not like it's any of your business, but things never actually got that far. He said he had to look up a girl in Sunnydale. I don't know why anyone would choose to go to that death trap hick town. Must've been some girl. Let me guess. It was you."

"He wanted to kill her," Angel points out.

"Sometimes you gotta kill 'em before you can sleep with them," Gwen replies while looking up towards Gunn. Fred catches the meaning of her comment. Angel, Buffy and Cordy all shudder because, to them, it sounds like what a vampire would say before siring his or her mate.

"I hate to interrupt your little soap opera, but we're here," Gunn announces. "Actually, I don't hate to." He found the bickering annoying. Everyone piles out. Angel races for the shade.

"So what are we up against?," Buffy asks. Connor is thrown out his window and smashes into the pavement. It takes a few seconds for Buffy to recognize the boy-projectile. Angel tells Cordy to watch over Connor while the rest of them go in.

"Buffy, we're trying to stop the ritual, not kill him. Buffy?" She's gone.

"Looks like somebody chickened out," Cordy says as she cradles Connor's head in her arms. Buffy had raced up the stairs ahead of everybody else.

"Now I know why you're so angry," Buffy says to the Beast when she lays eyes on him, glancing at his crotch. "But do the rest of us a favor. Just cause you're anatomically incorrect doesn't mean you shouldn't wear clothes."

"Slayer."

"So you've heard of me," she says as she walks up to him. He's preparing for his big spell. "Now drop the nick-knacks and take your best shot, tall, red and scaly. You desperately need to moisturize." He tries a right hook. She ducks. He tries a left jab. She ducks and lands six quick punches to his chest, backing the Beast up. Angel enters.

"Buffy!" She dodges two more punches by swerving her head to either side, grabs his left leg and pulls him down. Angel rushes over to help, but is kicked twenty feet back by the Beast's right hoof. He sends his left hoof into Buffy's right knee, knocking her down. They both get up as Gwen rushes over to the wings and ball on the floor. The Beast knocks Buffy back down with the back of his right hand and puts his left hand around Gwen's neck, lifting her off the ground. Gunn charges in, hitting the Beast in the chest with his ax. Buffy leaps up and lands a flying right kick to his face. The Beast drops Gwen, who grabs her throat and wheezes. Buffy kicks the Beast in the chest, trying to knock him out the window. He tries two more punches that she eludes.

"Is that the best you can do, big guy?" Buffy lunges upwards and lands a right hook to his face, grimacing from the pain of striking stone. Angel tries a right hook. The Beast squeezes his fist, causing Angel to cry out in pain.

"Join with me, Angelus."

"His name is Angel," Buffy tells her opponent as she kicks his body two more times, trying to stick up for an embarrassed Angel who's being upstaged by Buffy just like in the old days. The Beast tosses Angel across the room, Wesley, who started reading the teleportation spell, has to duck to avoid Angel when he crashes into the wall. Fred helps pull Wes out of the way of their flying boss.

"Boy, these Slayers sure are somethin'," Fred says as she watches Buffy go toe-to-toe with the Beast while everyone else gets clobbered.

"This isn't your fight," the Beast says with a chuckle as he pushes Buffy back.

"Buffy!," Angel yells as he picks up a sword and tosses it. Buffy leaps in the air and does a flip to avoid the Beast's punches and grabs the weapon on her way down.

"Okay, that was tight," Gunn concedes as he helps Gwen to her feet.

"I'm here, and you're evil," Buffy tells the Beast. "That makes this my fight." She stabs with two hands for about where his heart would be if he had one. He grabs the blade with his left hand, rips it away from Buffy and snaps the weapon in two.

"Give up, Slayer."

"I guess you really don't know what a Slayer's made of."

"Mind if I take a look?," the Beast asks, wiggling the fingers on his right hand as if ready to poke her. Angel tries to rush to her rescue, but Buffy's left kick knocks the Beast towards the broken window. His head leans out before he steadies himself and pounds the top of Buffy's head with his left fist. She wobbles but stays upright, and responds with a right roundhouse kick. But the Beast grabs her foot and hurls her through the glass of the window to his right.

"Buffy!!," Angel screams. The Beast knocks him back with a right uppercut.

"Do you really trust him with her?," the Beast asks, possibly alluding to Spike. How did he know about Spike?

Down on the ground, Connor climbs to his feet. Cordy grabs him. "You're not going anywhere."

"I have to help. It's my fault the Beast is here."

"No it's not. And you're in no condition to fight."

"You think I'm weaker than Angel. I'm not." He pushes Cordy away. "I'm not just gonna lie here and do nothing while the world ends." He takes two steps forward – right into the path of the falling Buffy.

"Connor!!"

Buffy looks around and realizes the impact wasn't as painful as she feared on the way down. "Good thing something broke my fall." Cordy grabs Buffy's hair.

"Get off him!," Cordy yells, dragging Buffy away and hurling her to the ground. "Do you know what you did?"

"Got thrown out of a window by a demon with a serious Devil Complex?" Cordy looks at Connor, who lies on his back, blood pouring out his nose and mouth.

"What the hell was that?," he asks weakly.

"As if this Angel's son hasn't been through enough. Now you have to hurl yourself on top of him!"

"Wasn't the idea," Buffy glibly replies as she stands up, amazed at how little she's hurt. She looks at the agonized Connor and can't help but crack a tiny smile. "Guess that's payback for trying to kill me." Connor glares at her, opens his mouth to say something in reply, but passes out.

"You killed him! You killed him. Are you happy, now!?" As Cordy looks down at Connor, Buffy gazes up at the sky.

"Isn't this a little early for sunset?" Cordelia looks up.

"Oh no. Oh no." She looks at Buffy, tears in her eyes. "Well this figures. You come to town, and you don't even help. In fact, you just make things a whole lot worse."

NEXT: Angel realizes he must lose his soul. How convenient that Buffy's right there.


End file.
